DAY 11

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. The he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. - Jonah 3:3-4.

When I was in the eighth grade I had the unpleasant experience of attending shop class with a bully. He was a head or two taller than any of us. He had failed a couple of grades and moved to our little school from a large school in California. His name was Gene. Gene’s entertainment consisted of making life miserable for others. Each day he would pick on someone. My turn finally came when he had me down on the ground hitting me and there was absolutely nothing that I could do. Gene moved after that year and I have not heard what became of him. For several years even after becoming a Christian I could have cared less about what had happened to Gene.

Jonah had a problem with an even larger bully. The bully was the evil place called Nineveh. We know the story. The word of the Lord came to Jonah to go and preach in that evil place. Jonah we know refused until he had a little attitude adjustment in the belly of the great fish. The word of the Lord came to Jonah again and the second time Jonah went to Nineveh and there was a great revival. Jonah only had a one-sentence sermon but it was enough to bring the city to its knees.

What was the biggest obstacle to revival in Nineveh? Jonah was the biggest obstacle. One self-righteous person stood in the way of the greatest revival of the ancient world. The word of the Lord came to me about my bully. He has been on my prayer list for many years now. I do not know where he is but God does. Any old bullies, antagonists, Nineveh’s you’re still having bad thoughts about?