Corona Devo 3139
I have a friend named Tammy, and she has a few mental challenges, but her heart is good, and one thing that I know about her is her steadfast love for cats. She can no longer have a cat in the facility in which she lives, but whenever I see her, she inevitably shares with me (and anyone listening) about her beloved cat, Prince, whom she had to leave when she came to the facility. Tammy worries (daily) for Prince's well-being, often to the point of tears.
“I love my baby boy”, she has often told me of her cat. And indeed, she does love that cat.
She has asked me a number of times if I think that her “baby
boy” (cat) will be in heaven?
The truth is, I am not exactly sure of what the answer to Tammy’s spiritual question will look like for us in heaven, and I haven't found a clear answer (yet) in my Bible reading over the years.
However, I thought of Tammy and her sweet "baby boy", Prince, as I wrapped up in reading the last few verses in the book of Jonah.
Jonah had (reluctantly) brought the truth of God to the people of Nineveh, and they had believed in God and turned their hearts and lives to Him (and were saved!).
And the Lord was (of course) very satisfied with this outcome of saved Ninevite souls, because the Lord desires for all people to believe in Him and turn their hearts and lives to Him.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. ~2 Peter 3:9
But although Jonah had spoken God's redemption message to the Ninevites, Jonah remained negative in his appreciation of the Ninevites being saved and forgiven by God. In fact, he said that he would rather die than live with them as followers of God.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. (2) He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. (3) Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
(4) But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” ~Jonah 4:1-4
God is right (of course!)--it just doesn't seem right for Jonah to be so angry at the salvation of the Ninevites.
But Jonah aside, (and Jonah is the aside in this Biblical account, because Jonah initially ran from the task that God had assigned him in telling the Ninevites to repent, and then when Jonah did carry out God's plans, Jonah was bitter about the saved-Ninevite-souls results)...Jonah aside--God's heart is for the one lost soul to be saved, and how much more is God's heart blessed more than one lost person turns to Him?
Nineveh had over 120,000 "lost" or unbelieving people (or--the King James Version phrases it as "more than sixscore thousand persons").
That's a lot of people, and the Lord was concerned about all of them.
And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” ~Jonah 4:11
And they are lost.
In God’s own words, He says that they “cannot tell their right hand from their left”.
Have we seen the people, and the culture, and the world that surrounds us today? ...That shouts at us today? That seeks to educate and shape and distort our children today? That feeds our media and our newsfeeds and our anxieties today?
They cannot tell their right hand from their left.
In one breath, and chant, and campaign: they champion a single sex or race, such as "more power for women", certain lives matter more than others, etc.
And in the next breath, and chant, and campaign, they champion taking away the power of women (Let’s let men compete against them and rule over them in athletics), or they breathe communist propaganda (share everyone’s riches but don’t work for any of it) into our minds and into the minds of our children.
They cannot tell their right hand from their left, and none of their breath, chants, or campaigns are rooted in God's Word or His Truth.
But in Christ, we have found The Way.
(Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ~John 14:6)
In the Bible we have found not unfounded-principles (such as the world’s trends offer) but time-tested, prophecy-proven, miraculous Truths erupt and perpetually flow from the Bible.
God cares for the lost: the lost one and the lost 120,000 ones who do not know Him, and who cannot tell their right hand from their left.
God's heart is for lost people.
And...I can't wait to tell Tammy...God's heart is also for lost animals.
And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” ~Jonah 4:11
In reading what the Lord said to Jonah about saving the lost people in the city of Nineveh, I was (happily) surprised and comforted to also hear of God’s heart for animals/livestock/cattle (depending on the Bible translation used).
And should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle. ~Jonah 4:11
Cattle (KJV), animals (NIV), livestock (NKJV)---it all depends on the version of the Bible you are reading, but for me, and I dare say definitely for Tammy, this verse leads-me-to-believe that just maybe God does want all dogs (and cats/cattle/livestock/animals) to go to heaven.
It's not a huge revelation...but for any of us who have (four-legged) loved-ones...it just might be enough. I think it will be for Tammy.
And it is also safe to say that the Lord's larger concern was for the more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left.
God sought out the people of Nineveh and sent His message of salvation to them. And they listened.
If a dog or cat will obey Him, I know not. But this is not our greatest concern today.
Let's have concern, as the Lord does, for the lost people around us. There are many more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left. Will we bring God's message of hope and life to them? Can we provide them with the knowledge and the choice to accept the Lord into their hearts and lives?
The Ninevites believed God... When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. ~Jonah 3:5, 10
Blessings,
sarah
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