Plants Over People?
This morning I attended my Tuesday morning devotional and prayer time with some leaders and county officials and then got in some important work on a proposal for some consulting services, before heading to my fitness workout with my trainer. My trainer is pushing my limits on my underdeveloped muscles, so I am trusting it will help over the next two months.
I then made an afternoon trip to Englewood to visit with my mom and help her with some personal business. I stopped by my friend’s the Belvill’s home and a visit with my dear friend Vila Mae before heading home just in time for the rush hour traffic.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died. Then shouldn’t I show concern for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know right from wrong…” Jonah 4:10,11 NCV
I recall giving testimony last year, before the County Commissioners as they were considering the Health Department’s recommendation to spray for West Nile mosquitoes within city boundaries. This was unprecedented since the County was taking action within city limits when the City’s guidelines for public health were not at the same level as those used by the County Public Health Director.
During the public comment period, someone expressed concern over the effect that spraying might have on organic gardens in the quadrant under consideration. I thought to myself, “Great! Now we are putting the concern for produce over people!”
We find a similar situation with Jonah at the end of the book that bears his name. In this situation the plant (a vine) was provided for by God to shelter Jonah from the heat. The next day when the sun came up, the plant shriveled and died and Jonah was exposed to the heat of the day. Jonah was upset.
The Lord used this to point out to Jonah, the contrast between his concerns and those of the Lord’s. In this situation Jonah wasn’t really as concerned for the plant as he was for his own comfort and well being.
There are two points of application that should get our attention. First, we see that often, God’s perspective and views are different than ours. Jonah was concerned about a vine, God was concerned about people who were lost in their worship of pagan idols. God showed them mercy due to the preaching of Jonah, but Jonah, as he sat observing the city from afar, was still counting and hoping on God’s judgment.
So often we are out of step with the Lord’s heart and mind. At times, we want judgment when the Lord says it’s time for mercy. At others, we may find that when God says it’s time for judgment, we think it is time for mercy. This is a challenge and it requires us to be slow to rush to conclusions and attitudes about situations and people and to seek to know God’s heart and mind.
The second observation is, we need to be aware of being more concerned for our own comfort, than we are people in need of God’s intervention in their life. I recall a powerful sermon by Dr. E.V. Hill in which he said the “sin of Job” is that he was “at ease” in the midst of the pagan people of his day. He effectively built his message, in his classic preaching style, to point out that it is tempting to be “at ease” with concerns over our own life and affairs and relationship with the Lord, that we neglect God’s heart for hurting people, whom Jesus described as, “like sheep, lost and without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36)
We see in the Book of Jonah, that the Lord desires mercy for those we often don’t think deserve it. And we see that it is important for us to “be on the same page” as the Lord and to make sure our heart reflects His. Let’s not be guilty of putting “plants” or ourselves, over people for whom Christ died and for whom Christ desires to know His mercy and forgiveness.