Our Ninevahs

“Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach…” Jonah 1:2

“Then Jesus came to them and said… ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded…and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20

A few thousand years passed between God’s instructions to Jonah and Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. God’s heart always has been and always will be on transforming the heart from man to the heart of God. As Hebrews 13:8 states, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’ These OT and NT verses speak to this truth.

Fast forward a few more thousand years as we put our spiritual lives under the divine telescope. If Christ never changes then we have to assume that this command, the Great Commission, is active and alive being our standing orders in 2010 also. This was not a one time command for a certain group of people. In the Greek language the word for ‘go’ is better translated as ‘going.’ Priscilla Shirer states, ‘In other words, the command to make disciples should be accomplished while believers are going about their business.’ Jonah, Navigating a Life Interrupted, p. 106

Jesus was not speaking to a group of evangelists but rather a group of believers, supporters and lovers of God. We all have our own Ninevahs, our circle of influence, which we must be called upon to testify, witness and seek followers of Christ. Is your Ninevah standing in the grocery store line and sharing your testimony with someone who seems lost? Is your Ninevah taking a stand for Christ at work when distasteful jokes or language is going around? Is your Ninevah accepting an opportunity to partner with God in your church or community?

God has always had the heart of man as first priority since the Creation. Wherever He commands us to ‘go about our business,’ He will supply the provision to accomplish the Great Commission.

Where is your Ninevah?