Dear Boys and Girls,
Do you like to go fishing? We have grandchildren who like to fish in the pond and creek in our backyard. And sometimes they catch some really big fish. When two of our granddaughters netted some big ones, one of them said, “I’m glad there aren’t any whales out in the creek or pond. I sure wouldn’t want to get swallowed up by one!” I decided I wouldn’t want to be swallowed by a whale or any big fish either. And that got me to thinking about Jonah and the big fish.
Maybe some boys and girls don’t know the story about Jonah that God has recorded in His Word, the holy Bible. Okay, I’ll tell you just a little bit about it.
Jonah is the name of a book in the Bible that tells the story about the man named Jonah who lived long before the Lord Jesus was born. The beginning of the book says, “The word of the Lord came unto Jonah . . . saying. . . . ” But, Jonah wouldn’t listen to God; he was being disobedient! Instead of doing what God told him to do, he went down to the seaport (the opposite direction) and bought a ticket to take a boat across the sea and get away from God.
Jonah forgot that “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, [looking at] the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:33The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)). God saw exactly what Jonah was doing, and it was not good.
After Jonah got into the boat, it wasn’t long until the sailors knew something was wrong! A terrible storm blew up, and the sailors knew that it was the season of the year when there usually weren’t storms. Jonah was right down in the bottom of the boat, fast asleep, maybe hiding from God. But the sailors found him and asked him a lot of questions.
Jonah told the sailors what he was doing and admitted that it was his fault that the storm was upon them. He told them that the only way to stop the storm was to throw him overboard! So that’s what the sailors did - threw him overboard! And what a miracle took place! The wind stopped blowing, the waves died down, and it was a beautiful, calm day.
“But, Grampa, what happened to Jonah? Did he drown?”
No, because God had prepared a great fish to swallow him, and poor Jonah was in the belly of that fish for three days and three nights! That’s a looooong time! At the end of those three days and three nights, Jonah confessed, If I’m ever going to get out of here, it will be only through God Himself! So he said, “Salvation is of the Lord.”
Then, guess what? Another miracle! This great fish deposited Jonah right out on dry land! Then Jonah did what he was told to do in the first place. He went into that great city and spoke the words that God told him to speak: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
“Grampa, did the people believe Jonah?”
Yes, they sure did . . . every one of them . . . from the youngest to the oldest! Children, wouldn’t it be just great if everyone who reads this story, from the youngest to the oldest, would trust the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ? “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)).
Children, don’t be like Jonah and try to run away and hide from God. Our God is a kind and loving God who wants to give us a very precious gift. It’s called “eternal life” - a life that lasts forever in heaven! God’s Word says, “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). I sure hope you’ll accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and know that you have eternal life.
Now, the next time you go fishing and catch a big fish, are you going to think about Jonah like I did?
Lots of love,
Grampa
ML-12/04/2005