And the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine... should I not be concerned about this great city?"

Jonah 4:10-11

Nearly all of us grew up with the story about Jonah and the whale (okay, "great fish" for you biologists) and we remember in vivid detail the first part of the story. We remember how God told Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh, but that Jonah disobeyed and fled by boat in the opposite direction. We remember that Jonah was cast into the sea by his shipmates, but how God then provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. We all remember about how three days later when the fish spit Jonah onto dry land and how when God told Jonah a second time to go and preach to Nineveh that Jonah did indeed go.

Most of us even remember how Jonah's preaching was effective, and how the Assyrians repented of their sins and that the entire city of Nineveh was spared from God's wrath. But, do we remember what came next?

After the city was spared, Jonah went up to a high place that overlooked the city to see if God might go ahead and destroy the city anyway. This was what Jonah was wanting because the Assyrians were enemies of the Jews, so he was hoping against hope that God would wipe them out. While he waited, we read of an almost comical event: It was hot, so God provided a plant to provide shade for Jonah. We are told that Jonah was very happy about this plant, but that his joy soon turned to sorrow when the plant died. God then asked Jonah if he had any right to be angry about that plant and Jonah told God that he did have that right - that he was angry enough to die!

And this is the point that the true lesson of this entire event was taught. God told Jonah that he was concerned about a dead vine that he hadn't even planted in the first place. Shouldn't then God be concerned about a great city filled with people - including little children? 

Strangely, the narrative stops here. We are not told what Jonah's reply to God was. We are not told whether he was still angry with God's concern for a people who were his enemy, or even if he ever got over the untimely demise of that stupid plant. The story just ends at this point, and we are left with nothing but speculation as to what happened next. Many of us will just leave it at that. We might have a small curiosity about the matter, but nothing more. The point is, though, that we need something more!

We need to realize that we are often just as petty and self-centered as was Jonah. The fact is that most of us are more concerned with whether or not we feel good, or if it is warm or cool enough for our comfort, than we ever are for the millions of lost and endangered souls in this world. Like Jonah, we are all too aware of our personal needs and desires, but we often fail to see the people who have real trials in life. And I'm not just talking about people who are going through hard times on the other side of the world, either. Like Jonah, sometimes the people whose souls are at risk are right next to us, or at the bottom of the tall hill that we might find ourselves perched on.

The main lesson of Jonah is not the big fish! It is that Jonah was more concerned about his petty comforts than he was the eternal souls of the masses. Jonah should have had a great satisfaction in the role he played in convincing these people to repent so that they would not be lost. More importantly, he should have been eternally grateful to God for His mercy in sparing these people. Instead, Jonah was angry enough to die because he was too hot and too tired to care about the big picture.

And I have to admit, that this picture of this pitiful little man who cared more for his immediate comfort than he did for other people's souls is in reality... a picture of me! And that is something we all need to think about a little more often, wouldn't you agree?