The Power of a Repented Heart

The story of Jonah is about realizing our faults, repentance, and making a change in our lives. The concept of repentance involves experiencing deep sorrow and a desire to turn away from our wrong doings. The key to repentance is first realizing that we’ve done something wrong in our life―that we have an issue. But, to resolve the issue, we must get to the root cause of the problem.

We are all human and are constantly fighting a war within ourselves. We were all formed in sin (Psalms 51:5), and because of this, have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Because of our sinful natures, we have a desire to be like God. This was the root of Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5). Jonah had the same issue. Scripture doesn’t say specifically that he wanted to be like a god, but he wanted to be in control of his own life and make his own decisions. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and obey the direction of the Lord. He decided to go in the opposite direction (Jonah 1:3).

Jonah got on a boat and found himself in the middle of a storm. Because Jonah disobeyed God, he put many lives at risk. Eventually, the sailors threw Jonah overboard, and he was swallowed by a big fish (Jonah 1:17). Just like Jonah, if we choose to go against what God has told us to do in life, we will run into a “big fish” problem. Many times we like to blame God for the situation that we’re in, but if we had just been obedient to God in the beginning we wouldn’t face the present problem in our life.

Jonah didn’t realize it at the time, but being swallowed by the  fish was his saving grace. Death is always the result of sin. Jonah would have perished in the storm, but this fish stopped Jonah just short of drowning. In was here in the belly of the fish, where Jonah had a change of heart, realized his faults, and cried out to God (Jonah 2:9).

When we realize that we have sin in our life, and repent, God will forgive us. He will extend mercy and grace to us in the midst of our failures. In Jonah’s case, God was quick to forgive him, and He  caused the fish to spew up Jonah on the shores of Nineveh. God gave Jonah a second chance to obey His voice.

Jonah finally made it to Nineveh and preached God’s warning message: in forty days, God would destroy the city (Jonah 3:4). It was a simple message, but the city responded. The king decreed that neither man or animal would eat anything (fast), and they would put on sackcloth and repent (Jonah 3:7). The city didn’t want to chance the destruction of the Lord. They desired to change their ways and live a life that was pleasing to the Lord.

True repentance will always be followed by an action. We cannot stop short in just believing in the Lord (John 3:15) and expect salvation. Just like the king of Nineveh acknowledged his sin, as well as the citizens of Nineveh, we need to do the same. We’ve got to take action to repent of what we know we’ve done wrong, and ask God to come in to forgive us, and to change us!

If we don’t confess our sins to God and ask Him to completely change us, we will waste away (Psalms 32:3–5). We become a hindrance to the work of the Holy Ghost and a potential revival in our lives if we don’t repent. Conviction will always come when we allow the Holy Ghost to be operational in our life (II Corinthians 7:10). With the conviction, we need a change in our lifestyle.

Although Jonah had repented in the belly of the whale, he  still had some heart issues to deal with. Jonah was mad that God didn’t destroy the city of Nineveh after they repented. He had not fully repented. When we truly repent, we will have a complete heart change that will impact our lifestyle, thoughts, and actions.

God’s desire to forgive us will not last forever. In the story of Jonah, God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent and turn back to Him. Receiving God’s mercy because we repent has an expiration date. There is coming a day when God will pour out His judgment on the world. If we don’t repent and change our lifestyles, we will too be destroyed. The only thing that’s holding us back is our repentant heart. Once, we repent, we will find out just how powerful our repentance will be in our life.