Schmursday, Schmoctober the Schmifteenth

I had my first day at Oxfam today! I really liked it, actually. It's in this little shop in Moseley. The first floor is the store front and a kitchen and a sorting room and the top 2 floors house all the clothing, housewares and books! Today, I sorted through clothing (really awesome clothing), priced it and put it out in the store! It's really awesome that I get to do some of the sorting. I found some really great clothes today… most of them were not my size, but it was still fun to look. I think that because the store is in an affluent area, the clothing that gets donated is a little nicer than usual. Many of the items are from stores such as Marks & Spencer, Warehouse and TopShop. I met a few of the people who volunteer regularly. Most of them are retired, but a few of them just wanted to donate some of their free time. I am excited to go back!

Later this evening, I went to my small group, where we read the book of Jonah. For some reason, we found it hysterical! The translation I read from, NLT, has a really funny way of saying some of the phrases that are quite serious in NIV. Anyways, in this particular book, God asks Jonah to go to this big city of Ninevah and preach to the people, saying that God will judge their city because of their wickedness. Instead of obeying God, Jonah goes in the exact opposite direction of Ninevah. He gets on a boat with a bunch of sailors. God created a storm on the ocean and the sailors, who knew Jonah was running from his God, sacrificed Jonah by throwing him into the sea. God caused Jonah to be swallowed by a giant fish and after three days, he was 'vomited' back onto dry land. Now, instead of finding someone else to preach to Ninevah, God gave Jonah another chance. He told him again to go preach to the city. Jonah was still reluctant, but he obeyed this time. The story goes on to explain some more incredible things about God's grace and love… but the thing I was stuck on about this story was how God pursued Jonah; God still wanted to use Jonah, even though Jonah just wanted to ignore Him. God was patient with Jonah and gave him another chance.

I really like the way Eugene Peterson has interpreted this verse from John 6: "Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don't let go." Pretty much, it says that once someone has decided to start following Jesus, Jesus will never give up on them. So, for me, even if I try to ignore God, or what he wants for me, He will always be patient with me. He will invite me back with open arms. Even if I want to run away from Him, God will always be there, showing Himself to me and asking me to return. In fact, God will be thrilled when I come back to Him. As in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15), even though his son rejected him and went away to live a destructive life, the father welcomed him back home with hugs and kisses and a big party to celebrate his return. He wont punish me for my behaviour, or demand that I complete a certain task to absolve myself. As my Mom wrote in my journal "God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you do or don't do." That's grace (unmerited favour). That's why my God is awesome.

(P.S. The reason Jonah ran in the first place was because he knew that if he told the people of Ninevah that they would be destroyed for their wickedness that they would mourn and turn away from their ways of life. He knew that God would forgive them and extend his love and grace to them, too. These people weren't even part of the nation of Israel. They were actually the enemies of God's chosen people. But he loved them anyways.)