Nahum Chapter Three

Read Today's Passage

Ever meet someone who was so full of themselves that you could not help but to wish that they would fall fall on their faces so everyone to see? I have. Several people in fact. I get the impression that other nations were waiting for Nineveh to get its comeuppance. And in a way, I feel oddly satisfied that Nineveh did. Not because I revel in seeing people hurt or tripped up. But because it shows that God is true to His word, and that He will not tolerate stupidity from His people.

You see, God is perfect. Humans are not. I know, I know big surprise there. But follow me on this. For God to be perfect, He has to desire for us to strive to be perfect. When we mess up, He is ready and willing to forgive us, and sometimes even removes us from the results of our mistakes. But when we intentionally make bad choices expecting God to forgive us, we start to take advantage of His mercy and grace. It is no longer grace (unmerited favor) because we expect it from Him. So what is left when there is no more grace? Justice. It comforts me that God's justice is active, and not a side concept. Even though I do not want to be on the receiving end of His justice, I feel that we tend to focus so much on God's mercy and grace that we forget about His perfect justice that HAS to act against sin. Even mine. But it is still there, and sometimes we only see it when it is inconvenient for us or when we look at what happens to someone else when they foul up. I wonder if Nineveh in the years after Jonah's visit fell into this as they turned from God, expecting Him not to carry through on His earlier word. Did they think that turning away once from their sins would be enough? Or did they just rely so much upon God's grace that it ran out?

And are we headed in the same direction?