Jonah. I don’t envy him. Can you imagine having to go into a city and tell them that they are all going to die? Yet, that’s the message God gave to Jonah. He was supposed to march into Nineveh and tell them they had only 40 days until God was going to destroy them and overturn the city. I have to wonder if surviving a three-day stay in the belly of a fish boosted his confidence. Either way, he obeyed. And he proclaimed the message that God gave him for Nineveh.

Jonah had to have been scared. He was pretty much commanded to tell some really bad people to repent or die. These people could have simply killed him and ignored his message. He literally put his life on the line to proclaim the message God gave him. His was a message of doom and death. That’s a pretty good reason to shake in your shoes!

Yet, we are afraid to share life. We don’t have to say, “repent or die” to our friends, neighbors and loved ones. We can say, “repent and live.” We can point them to Jesus. The message God gave us to share isn’t bad news of destruction. It’s good news.

But we don’t share it. We make excuses. Because we’re afraid.

What is wrong with us?