I was thinking about how it is the beginning of 2025, and some Bible verses came to my mind. Look at the opening of Jonah chapter 1:
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it…”
After that, Jonah disobeys, is swallowed by a fish, and then vomited back up. Now look at the opening of Jonah chapter 3:
“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.”
Crazy huh? The God of the universe repeated Himself.
Jonah was given the opportunity to obey God (or not) at the beginning of the story, and he chose to disobey. Even so, God gave Jonah the opportunity to obey God (or not) a second time!
Though this is a narrative about God’s dealing with one particular guy, it still shows something of God’s character. God is willing to say some things twice. Sometimes, God gives people chances to start over again.
And so this is a new year, and I figured I’d remind you of that. Perhaps you messed up last year. Perhaps you did several things wrong. Well, it’s a new year. You don’t have to do it all over again. The wrong things from last year don’t have to be repeated. This new year is another chance from God to start over again.
Jonah was given the opportunity to obey God (or not) at the beginning of the story, and he chose to disobey. Even so, God gave Jonah the opportunity to obey God (or not) a second time!
Though this is a narrative about God’s dealing with one particular guy, it still shows something of God’s character. God is willing to say some things twice. Sometimes, God gives people chances to start over again.
And so this is a new year, and I figured I’d remind you of that. Perhaps you messed up last year. Perhaps you did several things wrong. Well, it’s a new year. You don’t have to do it all over again. The wrong things from last year don’t have to be repeated. This new year is another chance from God to start over again.
