Daily Devotional

Nevertheless, when Jesus says we should ask, did He mean we could ask for just anything? What did Jesus consider when he said we should ask, seek and knock? The answer to this question can be seen in the lines that follow: “If you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).

Jonah was not happy that the tree which gave him shade at night would suddenly wither. Little did he know that this was precisely what he wished for the people of Nineveh. Jonah wanted justice served. Jonah failed to realise that justice can also mean offering the sinner a second chance because they still have something good in them. That tree may have committed many atrocities, but to Jonah, the tree was needed to give him shade. Think about this: those we condemn as the worst of sinners still have some good in them.

“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:10). Repentance moves God. Just as God changed His mind towards the Ninevites, repentance from sin saves us from the calamities our sins attract.