Jonah 2: 6-10
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, unto thy holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the lord spoke unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land.
Hn, hn! The Lord’s methods always amaze me. Although I have a list of possible Scrip-Bits, I still scan the Bible everyday looking for inspiration. Well, today I opened it right on Jonah, who wasn’t on my list, and I knew the search was over. Those verses seem to bear out the basic tenets of Christian life; obedience, prayer and mercy. But Jonah had to learn that the hard way. When he refused to do what God wanted him to do, he had the whale swallow him. But when he remembered his Creator and prayed with a repentant heart, the Lord in his great mercy, forgave him and rescued him from the innards of the whale. That’s what happens when we try to ignore his will, but he usually brings us to heel by some roundabout, zig zag method. And when we wake up and smell the roses, and ask for forgiveness, he is magnanimous enough to do just that, with fatherly love of course. So let’s try to learn from Jonah and save ourselves a lot of heartache. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Whew! What a lot of preachifying! Smile! And remember to always practice LOVE! Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful fathers out there. Had to make it smaller so it could fit.
SCRIP-BITS 