Either you've gone on a whale watch, or been to an aquarium like Sea World, or you have seen them on television. I think most of us have seen whales and know that they are among the largest mammals on the earth. They live in the deep seas and oceans of the world, and although they used to be hunted for the oil that could be made from their fat, they are now protected by most nations.
There is a whale of a story in the Bible. It's the story of a prophet named Jonah. Jonah was chosen by God to be his spokesman. He was told to go to a wicked city called Nineveh to tell the people to repent and turn to God. But Jonah decided he didn't want to do what God told him so he got in a ship to run away. Jonah was disobedient. Are you ever disobedient?
Well, as disobedient Jonah was running away, a great storm came up and threatened the boat in which he was traveling. It was decided after much debate that the sailors should throw Jonah out of the boat, and when they did the storm stopped.
God prepared "a great fish" (we believe it must have been a whale) to swallow Jonah, and then when Jonah was sorry for his disobedience, the fish spit him out on dry land. That must have been a terrifying ordeal to have to go through in order to learn to be obedient to God?
Hopefully, we won't have to be swallowed by a whale to learn that God wants us to be obedient to him. We can learn obedience by the little things we are required to do, so that when God speaks to us about what He wants us to do, we will obey.
A whale is a reminder for you of Jonah and how he learned to obey.
