[DCLM Daily Manna 20 August 2020] Topic: Show The Light
Text: Jonah 3:1-10 (KJV)
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Key Verse: “And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God…” (Jonah 3:7, 8a).
MESSAGE:
Theodore Roosevelt once commented that: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who actually in the arena strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause and knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; his place shall never be with cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Influence in life can either be positive or negative. Negative influence leads in wrong direction and end up in a chain of catastrophe and ruin. Eve had a negative influence on Adam and the whole world is still groaning from the curse that followed. Rebecca influenced Jacob negatively with grievous consequences.
Ahab was negatively influenced by Jezebel his wife; he killed Naboth and incurred the wrath of God, which altered the destiny of his lineage. On the other hand, positive influence produces good result which lead to joy and accomplishment.
Our Lord Jesus had a positive influence on His disciples and, by extension, all that believe in Him. The disciples became Christians or little ‘christs’.
Our text today shows that the king of Nineveh led the whole city back to God. He proclaimed a fast and commanded that all men and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God.
The influence of the king led to God’s mercy and pardon. “…God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jonah 3:10). We can individually and collectively take definite steps to influence and affect others until they come to Christ, the Saviour.
Thought For The Day: Light a candle and influence others.
The Bible In One Year: Job 39-42
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
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