As I wake up this morning, I have much to be thankful for. I am thankful for being married to such and amazing and godly wife for almost 10 years. I am thankful for three healthy and rambunctious children who are a constant joy to have around. I am thankful for the health that I have in my early 30’s. I am thankful that the Steelers are hanging in there this season. I am thankful for the house we live in, the food we have, the freedoms we enjoy right now. I am thankful that immediately after seminary God gave me a church pastor. I am thankful that our church has people who love God and His Word.
Something I read from Tim Keller this morning helped me see that while all of these things are great, what I am most thankful for is the Ultimate Jonah, Jesus Christ. Here is Keller’s meditation on how Christ is much greater than Jonah and what he has done in his death on the Cross:
“Consider another way in which Jesus was the ultimate Jonah. In Mark 4 we have an account from Jesus’ life that deliberately evoked the Old Testament story. There was a terrible storm and, like Jonah, Jesus was asleep in the midst of it. Like the sailors, Jesus’ disciples were terrified and woke him up to day that they were going to perish. In both cases the storm was miraculously calmed and those in the boat were saved by the power of God.
But here is the great difference. Jonah was thrown only into a storm of wind and water. Jesus on the Cross, however, was thrown into the ultimate storm—of all the divine justice and punishment that we deserve for our wrongdoing. When I struggle with my idols, I think of Jesus, voluntarily bowing his head into that ultimate storm, taking it on frontally, for me. He sank in that storm of terror so I would not fear any other storm in my life. If he did that for me, then I know my value, confidence, and mission in life all rest in him.”
Timothy Keller Counterfeit Gods pgs 151-52.
So this Thanksgiving Day 2011, I am thankful for the Ultimate Jonah, Christ who gives me my value, confidence and mission in life. And I can rest in that.
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