This summer, I’ve been spending time in the books of several of the minor prophets: Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Obadiah, and Joel. In the next month I’ll be moving on to Habakkuk and Zephaniah.

These were pre-exilic prophets who pleaded and warned the two nations of Israel and Judah of impending judgment for their failures and sin. The people constantly were falling away from their promise to honor God alone, but rather choose to follow other gods and trust in their own strength. Through the prophets, God called all people to repent and return to Him.

As I read these books on warm summer days, it gives me great pause to search my own heart and 1) look for other gods in my own life and 2) dig deep into my failures and sin and to repent. Repentance is pretty easy to understand: It simply means to turn away from sin and turn to God. It is such an amazing gift that He gives us, and it is so wonderful that we get to repent! Can you imagine if we were never allowed to repent? What would our spiritual lives look like?

I’ve heard so many people talk about how the Old Testament isn’t valid today. It’s a ‘that was then, this in now’ mentality. But each word written is God-breathed, and He is eternal and timeless. If it was relevant then, it’s relevant now.

And there is always something to relate to. For me, I can really identify with Jonah when he gets upset that God loves and cares for our enemies! This can be quite humbling for us when we really understand that salvation is for ALL. Aha, another thing I found to repent of. Lord, I repent of jealousy and upset that you love and care for those who I find it difficult to love and care for. You, Lord, love my enemies just as much as You love me. Hallelujah, I celebrate that!