Idolatry

“But Jonah said, “If you observe lying vanities, you’re going to forsake your own mercy.”’ (Jonah 2:8)

My friend sent me this verse the other morning, ‘“But Jonah said, “If you observe lying vanities, you’re going to forsake your own mercy.”’ (Jonah 2:8) As I was unpacking the truth behind this verse I was CHALLENGED.
Jonah chose empty pursuits over God. He was derailed from Nineveh because of “lying vanities,” or another interpretation said, “worthless idols.”
ALL objects of human pursuit are FUTILE. Every single one. When we hope in anything apart from God we will be disappointed. As Timothy Keller puts it, “When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self-worth, it is essentially an ‘idol,’ something you are actually worshiping.”
Idols are deceptive because they appear to be good things, but not good enough to subdue our wandering hearts. Whatever we put our hope in outside of God is an idol. For Jonah, it was his love of his own country and people that derailed him and kept him from being obedient. Money, Influence, Work, Pride, Self-fulfillment, Stuff, Food, Health, Sex, and Power are all idols. “As many have learned and later taught, you don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” Timothy Keller