Imagine walking into a movie theater for the biggest blockbuster of the year. The tension has been building for two hours. The hero and the villain are facing off. Suddenly, right at the climax, the screen goes black. The lights turn on. The movie is over. How do you feel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You would feel cheated, right? You want an ending! We all want a resolution, whether in a film or a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Book of Jonah ends exactly like that. In chapter 4, Jonah is sitting on a hill, burning with anger. God has provided shade by a plant. Jonah is angry because the plant is gone. Then God asks him a stinging question about compassion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonah 4:10: “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then… silence. The book ends<\/strong>. We never find out whether Jonah repents, goes home, or stays mad forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why would God end a book that way? Because the story isn’t actually about Jonah. The book ends on a cliffhanger because it turns the question<\/strong> on you. God looks at us and asks, “Are you going to love the people I love, or are you going to stay angry on your hill?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The book of Jonah has always been about God’s compassion for the people he has created. God sees what Jonah doesn’t see. God looks at a brutal, violent city and sees something Jonah does not see. He sees spiritually blind people who need mercy. He sees image-bearers who need a Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God invites us to see people as God sees them. As God sees each one of us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Father opens His arms and calls His children to – <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stop judging. Start loving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stop resenting grace. Start celebrating grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s heart beats for the lost. He cares about the people we find difficult to love. He cares about people on the other side of our political divisions, cultural divisions, racial divisions, and social divisions. The people we might write off are often the very people God is pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s invitation is simple: “Come and share My heart.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Imagine walking into a movie theater for the biggest blockbuster of the year. The tension has been building for two hours. The hero and the villain are facing off. Suddenly, right at the climax, the screen goes black. The lights turn on. The movie is over. How do you feel? You would feel cheated, right? You want an ending! We all want a resolution, whether in a film or a book. But the Book of Jonah ends exactly like that….<\/p>\n