April 3, 2023

Jonah 4: 2 “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” (NIV)

God is always consistent with Himself in His actions.*

In the wrong mouth, even the truth can be misused. This verse contains the words of Jonah – uttered in a prayer. They are a true and accurate depiction of the character of God. And clearly Jonah believed what he said because he confesses that he fled to Tarshish for this very reason – he knew that God would be merciful to the people there if they repented - and he was vehemently opposed to the idea.

In the words of Oswald Chambers, “A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty.”* In other words, we recreate God in our own image so that we can neutralize our sin. Have you ever heard someone claim that “God would want me to be happy” as they justify an affair and destroy their marriage?

But often, like Jonah, we misapply God’s true character. A quote, which supposedly was delivered by a man on his deathbed, sums up the attitude of many believers: “God will forgive me. It is his job.”* It is true that God forgives; and it is also true that we can never deserve or earn his forgiveness; but the forgiveness process requires some participation on our part. We can’t just ignore God until we’re ready to lie down and die and count on one facet of his nature to save us. As another writer observes: “We cannot isolate his attributes without creating a false god.”*

Man’s opinion of God does not define God; God defines God.*