Day 192: From the Belly of a Fish

1 Corinthians 13; 2 Kings 7:3-20; Jonah 2   

The Love Chapter. Lots of people talk about this a lot so I'll keep this commentary short. The two main points that I see are what love is and how important it is. Based on the descriptions, love is an action, not a feeling. So people don't necessarily fall in and out of love, as in, the feeling of love don't just appear or disappear. People make a conscious choice to show love or not. And secondly, all that service and worship that I can do for God and others doesn't matter if I do not love God and love others.

The second part of this chapter talks about seeing and knowing God fully. That will be heaven: seeing God face to face and being able to walk and talk with him closely.

Four lepers walk up to the Syrian camp, expecting to be taken prisoner or killed, but God has a different plan. He terrifies the Syrians and gives the camp to the four lepers. What's amazing is that these men, these outcasts from society who no one wants to be around, actually think to share the good news with the community who has ostracized them! Sometimes those who are unacceptable to society often have caring and gentle hearts. It is those that society idolizes or worships that can become hard-hearted. But, God didn't send the best warriors to the Syrian camp, he sent four humble, sick men to, in a sense, capture it.

What is amazing about Jonah's prayer, is that he is offering up thanksgiving. From the inside of a fish. At the bottom of the ocean. From the inside of a fish. It strikes me as kind of funny, because here Jonah was sinking to the bottom of the ocean, feeling certain he would die. He remembers The Lord, and in answer to his prayer, The Lord saves him. But God doesn't make the ocean go away or Jonah magically appear on dry land. No, Jonah is still in the ocean, but now he's tucked away in the fish's stomach. Ew. And yet, Jonah is thanking God for this second chance. As nasty as that would have been, God rescues Jonah in an unexpected way, and Jonah has learned his lesson. I imagine that when we are at low points in life and we offer up a prayer, God does rescue us. But I bet that sometimes it doesn't always look the way we want it to. But still, we must give thanks to a God who gives us breath each day and cares enough to listen to our prayers and send Jesus to save us.