thoughts from Jonah

Some thoughts from the book of Jonah . . . .

Jonah 1:9
......I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land
When did Jonah say this ? When he was about to get tossed overboard, after the lots had been cast and the crew knew that it was because of him that they were about to perish due to the storm.....When do we ‘willingly’ acknowledge that we fear the Lord God ? It should be a normal part of our everyday life....

Jonah 2:6
But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God
And here is the best picture of God’s grace toward us through Jesus Christ....by His grace and mercy we have been brought up to life (eternal life) from the pit (separation from God)
(Ephesians 1:7‑8 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us; Romans 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life)

Jonah 2:7
While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD
Just as Jonah did, why do we wait until we are ‘fainting away’ before we remember the Lord ?
Is it our self-reliant nature, our stubbornness, our proud attitude that we can handle everything ourselves, our disobedient nature or a combination of all of these ?

Jonah 2:9
But I will sacrifice to Thee with the voice of thanksgiving.
We are to give our lives as a sacrifice to Him who has ransomed us from the pit with thankful hearts for His indescribable gift
(Romans 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship)

That which I have vowed I will pay
What have we vowed to the Lord ? I would hope that when you were born again from above you (whether knowingly or not) vowed that Jesus Christ would is Savior and your Lord - and that you are His bond-servant....are you, through the power of His Holy Spirit working in you, upholding your vow ?

Salvation is from the LORD
For there is no other way.........for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8‑9)
Is this an ever present thought in our minds - that our salvation is from our Lord...or are we too caught up with our own agendas, our own seeking after knowledge, our own accomplishments, our own self gratification ?
The pride of life, the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh can pull us away from our unceasing acknowledgment that our salvation is from the Lord......but glory be to Him who has given us the ability to stand firm - for I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20)
(prb)