by: Dr. Allen Domelle
Jonah 3:3
“So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.”
The life of Jonah is one of many complexities. We rejoice in the fact that revival came to the city of Nineveh, and the whole city got saved. We condemn the fact that he ran from the will of God. We are delighted that he listened to the voice of God in the belly of the whale and got right. We denounce his self-pity as he sat under the juniper tree. His life is a very complicated life; one that is hard to understand.
One thing that is missed in Jonah’s life is the time he wasted running from God. We are pleased that it only took three days for Jonah to come back to God, but those three days can never be taken back. Though Nineveh had a great revival, that revival came three days too late for some. Some people died and went to Hell in those three days. For three days, children watched their daddy beat their momma in a drunken stupor. For three days, sin continued to violate and destroy the lives of those who participated in it. Though Jonah got right, you can never take back what happened in those three days. Revival would have come three days earlier if he had listened to God in the first place. Instead, those three days were wasted, and many will suffer for eternity because of that.
Sadly, there are many Christians who are just as guilty as Jonah in wasting a short amount of time in their lives doing things they will one day wish they had never done. Christian, you can never take back the days you wasted doing something you shouldn’t have done. That is wasted time that can never be taken back. You must watch out for those things that would waste your days.
One of the greatest time wasters is sin. Sin takes time from you that you can never get back. You may one day repent of your sin, but you can never take the time back that you could have used winning people to Jesus Christ or influencing others. We will rejoice when you come back to God, but what about all of those you could have helped in those three days? They will never be able to take those three days back.
Moreover, running from God’s will is a time waster. The longer you run from God, the more time people will go without the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the place where you are supposed to be. Every day you spend running from the will of God is another day that people will slip off into a Christless eternity. Stop running and wasting time, and start yielding and redeem the time.
Furthermore, being distracted from God’s will is a time waster. Satan is a master distracter. He knows how to get the Christian distracted with things that are not bad, but they are not something with which God wants the Christian to be involved. Sports, politics, hobbies and so much more can become distractions from God’s will. Friend, you may think what you are doing is going to help some other area, but God’s will is the only thing you are supposed to do.
Your purpose of existence is to fulfill the reason as to why God placed you on this Earth. Anything that keeps you from doing His will is a time waster. The Devil is pleased when God’s people waste time because it is one more day he has victory in someone’s life. Don’t give the Devil the pleasure of destroying a life for one day. Stay focused and do God’s will every day because souls hang in the balance.