Long ago, there lived a man named Jonah. One day, God spoke to Jonah and gave him an important job.
"Go to the great city of Nineveh," God said. "The people there have grown very wicked. Tell them to turn back to Me, so that I can forgive them."
But Jonah did not want to go. He climbed onto a ship sailing the opposite way, far across the sea, and tried to run away from God. How silly! For no one can ever run away from God, who is everywhere.
Out on the deep sea, God sent a mighty storm. The wind howled and the waves crashed, and the little ship was tossed up and down. The sailors were terrified! They cried out to be saved.
Jonah knew the storm was his own fault, because he had run away from God. "Throw me into the sea," he told the sailors, "and it will grow calm again." The sailors did not want to, but at last they gently lowered Jonah into the waves.
And the very moment Jonah went into the water — the storm stopped. The sea grew calm and quiet.
But God did not let Jonah drown. God had a plan.
He sent an enormous fish, a great big creature, which opened its huge mouth and swallowed Jonah whole! And there, deep inside the belly of the fish, in the dark, Jonah was safe.
Jonah stayed inside the big fish for three days and three nights. And there, in the dark, Jonah finally prayed. He told God he was sorry. He thanked God for saving his life. "Salvation belongs to the Lord!" he prayed.
God heard Jonah's prayer. He spoke to the great fish, and the fish swam to the shore and gently spat Jonah out onto the dry land — safe and sound!
Then God spoke to Jonah again. "Go to Nineveh," He said. And this time, Jonah went!
Jonah walked through the great city, calling out God's message: "Turn back to God, before it is too late!" And do you know what happened? The people listened! From the king on his throne to the smallest child, everyone in Nineveh was sorry for the wrong they had done. They prayed, and they changed their ways.
And God, who is so full of love, forgave them all. He did not punish the city. He had mercy on every single person there, because they turned back to Him.
The story of Jonah teaches us two wonderful things.
First, we can never run away from God. He is always with us, everywhere we go — and that is a comfort, not a fear, because He loves us so much.
And second, God is full of mercy. No matter how far we run, or how wrong we have been, the moment we turn back to Him and say we are sorry, He forgives us, with open arms. Just as He forgave Jonah, and the whole city of Nineveh, He is always ready to forgive us, too.
The story of Jonah is told in the Bible, in the Book of Jonah. The Lord Jesus spoke of Jonah's three days in the fish as a sign of His own three days before rising from the dead.