If you'd like to watch, click on Pastor Squatch Musings!

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

Idolatry is alluring. It appeals to the basest level of humanity and leads many on unintended pathways. Jonah learned this all too well. It wasn’t that he was bowing to a graven image, but he was seeking his comfort rather than being faithful to God’s calling on his life. In the West, it is less common for people to bow down to images of stone, wood, or metal; however, we often place our hopes in things that are not of God. We find our security in worldly things instead of trusting in God and His providence. We put a higher priority on things that are not God. These are the allurements of idolatry because they are not necessarily things that are against God and would be seen by many as being responsible actions in line with what any good person would do. No one would have blamed Jonah for not wanting to go to Ninevah. Yet, this was God’s calling to him. Let us place God first in our lives and make His calling upon us a priority as we seek to live within His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.