Jonah 3:1-10 / Luke 11:29-32
Generally speaking, people don't like to listen to correction.
Even if they are threatened with punishment, they may even be indifferent about it.
More so if the one telling them is junior, or has a lesser status, or is weaker in the general sense of the word.
Such was the case with Jonah. He had initially resisted the order from God to preach repentance to the Ninevites.
They were his enemies, they had conquered his country, they despise his people, and obviously they won't listen to him. They may even turn against him and his life will be at risk.
But in the end, Jonah went to Nineveh and preached the message of repentance as God told him to.
And much to his surprise, it only took one day for the Ninevites to repent, from king right down to the animals, and they did penance.
They believed that in doing so, God will have mercy and spare them the punishment, and God relented.
We may have tried to correct others and even threatened them with God's punishment, but we don't seem to be able to achieve any results. In fact, what we got was indifference or defiance.
But before we give up on people, let us look at ourselves and ask if we are a sign of repentance and conversion with our own lives.
Let us be that sign of God's love and mercy to others, and let us trust that the Lord God will act to bring others back to repentance and conversion.