“ITS NOT MINE”

Wednesday: 9th October, 2019

Reference text:Jonah 4:1-11

Jonah 4:10 Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.

Because of the ‘personal’ nature associated with the word ‘belong’, in any job where there are clear allocations, someone might say ‘that is my job or my part’-it belongs to me. In that regard, they prioritize this above everything else. Even sometimes, one might think such people don’t care about everyone else’s stuff but theirs’. Yet, that is how we are- we naturally gravitate towards protecting that which belongs to us before that of others.

The message in today’s text came in response to Jonah who expressed anger at the death of a plant but was fuming with rage when God opted to spare Nineveh and not destroy it according to the message he delivered. While God meant it as a rebuke to Jonah because of his stand point, it also seeks question our attitude towards the things that are not ours.

Jonah stood in two contrasting positions: one positive and the other, for which he was rebuked. He didn’t care what happened to Nineveh, obviously seeing it as God’s own. But he was genuinely concerned about the plant which lasted just a day. So beloved, what is your attitude towards the things that do not ‘belong’ to you? That is food for thought.

#sly