Jonah 2:8
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.”

Galatians 5:6
“6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Love as an action, as a thing expressed, worthy of God, worthy of being. Love is not just an abstract puppy, it’s concrete, bold, outspoken, fearless.

From Jonah (a whale of a guy who knows something about guts) we can infer that we should cling to God’s love for us, even when it means doing what we don’t want to do, even when it means walking smack dab into the middle of the stronghold of those who we would rather see “dealt with” than deal with. Paul tells us that laws don’t matter, only being faithful to God and expressing that faith through love.

Old Testament, New Testament, God’s love is. It is when we reject Him and flee the other way. It is when we are in the worst possible place. It is whether it fits the laws of man or not.

Reality check: We can cling to worthless idols or we can cling to real love. We express that attraction through action, demonstrable faith that it’s going to bring something that are looking for. Is ritualistic circumcision different from idiotic social norms that are foisted on us out of the same arrogance that built the tower of Babel? No, they are both false idols that pull us away from God and his love. The point is the we try to concoct these things to appease our own self righteousness, or own self importance, and lose sight of what really matters.

Jonah tried to run from what God called him to do, but in the end understood how wrong that was. Paul calls us to show our faith by love, by living God’s love. Both loved faithfully after ignoble starts.

What is the world calling you to do and how will you show it? What is God calling you to do and how will you show it?