Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. (Jonah 2:8, NIV)
Salvation from sin involves both faith and repentance. When God saves Jonah from certain death, he does not get on the next ship to Tarshish. He does not continue in disobedience. He does what God commands him and goes to Nineveh.
Salvation, if you are really saved, involves a complete change of direction. This is true, even if you lived a moral life before. Who you live for changes. Turning to God means turning away from whatever had his place in your life.
When Christ saves you, you are no longer your own. You are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20). What a price it was! You belong to Christ. You are in him and he is in you. You are a new creation in Christ, created for good works (Eph. 2:10).
“But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). That’s amazing… thanksgiving and praise are flowing out of Jonah while he is in the belly of the fish!
Why is Jonah so full of gratitude? When Jonah was in the water, he was sure he would die. When he was in the fish, he was sure he would live. How could he be sure? Because if God had intervened in his life in such a miraculous way, what could be more certain than that God would complete it? What God begins, he always completes (Phil. 1:6).
You can worship, however uncomfortable your experience is right now, if you know that God is saving you. What are your experience and your worship like right now?
