May 16, 2019
Jonah 3:1-3            
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:   “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”  Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 
New International Version (NIV)
                 I tried to learn to play golf in my early twenties.  I play one round every couple of years now.  It is not getting any better.  One of the interesting words I learned from golf was the word, “mulligan.”  My first golf partner hit a ball squarely into a field next to the first hole and said, “I’ll take a mulligan.”  He then teed up another ball and hit it down the fairway.  I took quite a few mulligans until my partner explained that a mulligan was a once a round kind of gift, not an every hole kind of gift.

                Do you believe in second chances?  More importantly, do you believe that God believes in second chances?  Jonah was instructed to go to Nineveh, so he went the other way.  Unlike Isaiah who said, “Here am I.  Send me,” Jonah said, “There I was, send someone else.”  After God sent a storm and a big fish to get his undivided attention, Jonah decided to pray.  Then God commanded the fish to spit Jonah out and it did.

                When God called Jonah a second time, he obeyed.  From Jonah’s experience and our own, we must acknowledge that it is always better to obey God the first time.  However, on the heels of our disobedience, if God gives us another chance, we should take it and obey. 

                At the heart of Jonah’s disobedience was a genuine disagreement about how far God should extend his love to foreigners.  In the end, God used Jonah to start a revival in Nineveh.  This troubled Jonah because he thought God should hate the people he hated.  Thankfully, God is not bound by human prejudice.    “God so loved the world,” including us.  And aren’t we glad?  How shall we celebrate?  Today if God gives you a mulligan, make the most of it.  Second chances are not guaranteed, nor are they indefinitely available.  Jesus put it this way, “Night comes when no one can work.”  
Pray with me:    
Father, God of second chances, thank you for the opportunity to obey you today.  Expand our hearts to love people as you do.  Show us what you would like for us to do to invite others into relationship with you.  “We will obey, do what you say.  Call us today.  We will obey.”  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.              
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 

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