The motive

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 The Motive In Obedience.

Today, we will look at the need to have the right motive even in our quest to obey God. In the bible, Jonah obeyed the Lord by going to preach to the people of Nineveh to repent in order for the city not to be overthrown in 40 days. 

After the people repented, and God relented from the destruction He planned to bring to the city. 

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭3:10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
[10] Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.


Though Jonah went to warn the people, he wanted the city to be destroyed according to what he proclaimed probably because he wanted to be seen as a true prophet of God who prophesies, and it comes to pass. 

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4:1‭-‬3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
[1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. [2] So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. [3] Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”


But that wasn’t God’s intention. God wanted the people to repent from their evil ways. 
In our quest to obey God, let us do it with the motive that aligns with the will of God.

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
[11] And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

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