Jonah’s Thanksgiving

“Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” ‭‭Jonah‬ ‭2:8–9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I am a lot like Jonah. I tend to only pray when I am in the thick of it, in the belly of a great fish, without a solution of my own. God wants us there, but always not only when our vision is narrowed to circumstances.

Here is how this desperate man, the Prophet, prays. ‘All those idol followers forsake the love that comes from you God… I am going to be thankful and serve you.’

Jonah kept his word. He went to Nineveh and preached. The repented. But he stayed bitter. And oh how I serve without thanksgiving. How I live like Jonah, complain about who God chooses to save.

Here is the thing, Jonah is praying FOR deliverance. He needs God to act to get him out of this doom. We however, in Christ, pray FROM deliverance. And this has to be a huge part of what we are about. This is where thanksgiving comes naturally because we know the big ole fish we were rescued out of. Now serving is not earning but rejoicing in the salvation that belongs to the Lord. The salvation that he gave us as a gift through the work of Jesus for us.

Let’s live this way today, with the voice of thanksgiving.