When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.” Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” 

                                                                                                                 Jonah 4:8-9 

As we near the conclusion of this account, we see an ending that seems quite puzzling. We do not find out if Jonah has a change in attitude or not. The story seems to just end. God deals with Jonah in an attempt to teach him however Jonah’s response seems to indicate that the lesson was not learned. Toward the end, we still see Jonah restating his earlier sentiment “Death is better to me than life.”

I believe that given Jonah’s apparent lack of repentance regarding his attitude surrounding God’s goodness displayed to the people of Nineveh, we can learn from his mistake and begin to understand the importance that repentance plays in our lives as believers. Consider the following words regarding the patience of God:

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

                                                                                                                 Romans 2:4

God is patient with us but it is that very patience that is to lead us to an ultimate resolve. That resolve is that we repent (change out minds) about our spiritual condition and receive the forgiveness that only comes as we yield ourselves to the kindness of God through Christ. God desires for us to experience His wonderful goodness and to share that same goodness with those around us, but we cannot move forward in the Christian life until we are willing to admit our weaknesses and failures and learn from our mistakes. It appears that Jonah’s attitude didn’t change…ours must.

Paul goes on to describe what happens when we are unwilling to repent:

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God…           

                                                                                                                 Romans 2:5

While I believe that this passage is referring to those who have yet to receive salvation in Christ, we, as believers, can still learn from this truth. Although our eternal position is secure in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, an unwillingness to repent in our thinking (holding on to destructive attitudes) can cause us to miss out on the blessings that God has for us now. Just like Jonah missed out on the opportunity to rejoice and celebrate with the people of Nineveh, Christians can also miss out on joyful occasions because of these attitudes.

We have all made mistakes. There is no one who can claim perfection apart from Christ. So what do we do when we find ungodly, sinful thoughts, words, and deeds emanating from our lives? I believe that we must repent (change our minds) about those attitudes and destructive behaviors and adopt a strong, biblical, and healthy outlook towards our lives and those around us. By doing so we can escape the pitfall that Jonah fell into effectively demonstrating that we truly have learned from our mistakes.