5 words.

This past Sunday as we were visiting my sister’s church, her pastor mentioned that they had just gone through the story of Jonah in Nineveh. He was putting into context the fact that Nineveh (in the stories in Nahum and Zechariah) was at a point in its history where the Lord was giving a very dark outlook for the people there as they had fallen away from worship and obedience of God and had settled back into the ways of idols and worse.

He reminded about us about Jonah giving the shortest sermon in Hebrew to the people of Nineveh more than 150 years prior. A sermon that ONLY 5 WORDS had lasting and whole change of their faith and future. (Jonah 3:1-10)

English translation of those 5 words: “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed!”

There is so much to say about the context and Jonah and his path before and after he listened to God (remember the big fish?!) but that’s not my point. Read this for a good run down of that story.

BUT I’m writing here for a different reason. What really struck me wasn’t the what or the why but the how.

Jonah could have said a lot. And he probably did but the words, just five in the Hebrew language, made an impact. He heard God (yes, only after the fish regurgitated him) and spoke as he was led.

5 words. Short. To the point. Yet still made an impact.

And the best part? They weren’t even Jonah’s words. Those words made a difference because God. Not because of Jonah.

Keeping in mind: we don’t have to say a lot to be heard. our words have lasting impact for God’s will and our purpose if we heed HIS leading. God knows what needs to be done, we just need to listen and follow.

Case in point: I heard it mentioned, God told me to write it down. I took a note on my iphone and it stuck.

What will you do with the words He gives you?