"But The Lord said, 'You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Jonah 4:10-11 (NIV)
After God decided not to destroy the city of Nineveh after the people repented and turned from their evil ways, the prophet Jonah was angry because he did not want the people of Nineveh to be saved. So he left the city and found a place to sit down. God caused a vine to grow where he was and give him shade. Jonah was very happy about the vine, but the next day God caused a worm to chew on the vine and it withered and died. Because he had no protection from the sun and the wind, Jonah was angry about the loss of the vine, that was when God spoke to him.
Jonah was more concerned about the vine than he was about the people of Nineveh. Today some of us are more concerned about things than we are about some people, saints and lost sinners. Not only should we love our neighbors, but Jesus Christ said that we should love, bless, do good to, and pray for our enemies, those who curse us, hate us, and despitefully use us. (Matthew 5:44) When we pray for them, we should thank God for them, for the good that they do for others, and (if for nothing else) for helping us to grow spiritually. We should never care more for our things than we care for people, be they friends or not, saints or lost souls. Remember, we all have our sins and shortcomings, and we all need prayer and God's mercy. Every non-believer is a potential believer, only The Holy Spirit can convict, convince, and convert non-believers. Each of us was a not-believing lost soul at one time.
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