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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Jonah 2:10
“And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”
Guess where?
How often we look at this story and relegate it to just a ‘fishy tale’. But in doing so, we miss the whole point. Jonah, the book, is included in the Holy Scriptures for a reason – and that is not just to give us a laugh, a vivid Sunday School story or the theme for a rap or song.
We might be judgmental over Jonah as a person, but can we be so without hypocrisy? How many of us, as Christians, have been asked to do something by God and gone off and done nothing about it, or just like Jonah done the complete opposite?
You see, the Lord has actually asked each of us to do the very same thing He asked Jonah. To go to the cities and tell the people there that they need Jesus and that He is The Answer to their needs. Maybe if our message were more direct like Jonah’s, people would listen up.
Jonah found himself inside the ‘whale’. It must have been a pretty scary and unique experience. For him it was obviously as good as death. He was in a watery grave – smelling awful. Yet even in this desperate state, he turned to God. Where else? God had got his attention, hadn’t He?
As you read Jonah’s prayer, you realise that it turns from where he was at – to where he believed God would yet take him. He responded according to his understanding of the character of God. Even before he was vomited out, he said, “But you brought my life up from the pit… I with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You… Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:6 & 9). With that exclamation, Jonah hit the beach.
I wonder if Paul thought of Jonah when he and Silas were in jail in Philippi? (see Acts 16:22-31)
What is the message of Chapter 2? It is Messianic. I said yesterday that Jesus refers to it and likens His death to Jonah’s temporary accommodation. And verses 2-7 remind us of Psalm 22, Psalm 69 and Psalm 130. They give us an insight of how Jesus felt on the Cross as He was dealing with our sin and rebellion.
As the old Chinese proverb says – You have no authority to pass judgement on someone else “until you have worn his or her shoes.”
The ‘Good News’ is that Salvation still comes from the Lord, and if we were a thankful, praising people, we would see it and experience it more often.
Are you on dry land or still at sea?
Remember – the praise and thanksgiving began before the rescue. That’s a challenge and a reminder for us all. Praise often precedes deliverance.
Why not praise God today – despite your circumstances?
Who knows, they might even change afterwards - as well as your attitude towards them.
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