January 09

Jonah Two: Coming Clean

I sank beneath the waves.... The waters closed in around me.... When I had lost all hope. I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

Jonah 2:5, 7 (NLT)

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Psalm 51:10, 12 (NLT)


On the David Letterman show they play a game where objects are placed in a tank of water, but beforehand, people have to guess if the object will sink or if it will float. The egg? It sinks! The can of spam? It sinks too. The bottled water? Ah, that one floats!

It’s a fun diversion, but it reminds me, when it comes to life, there are times we sink and then there are those times we float—those better times when we rise to the occasion. Buoyed by God’s presence, He lifts us from the deep, from the pit and into something so much better—the fresh, clean air of righteous, obedient living.

This is the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10. It begins when we come clean with God and others, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and … rise!


Lord, cleanse us, fill our hearts and let us rise in Your good will! Amen.