Mooster: Hello, kids! I’m Mooster! I have a Bible story to tell you today. I hope you can sit up straight and tall and listen carefully. I wonder if anyone else is home in the tree house today to hear the story?
Hello?
Hello in the house!
Anyone home?
Monkey Moe: Well I’m home…for now. But I won’t be for long.
Mooster: Where are you going?
Monkey Moe: I’m running away.
Mooster: Running away? Why on earth would you do that?!
Monkey Moe: Because I broke my mom’s cell phone. She doesn’t know it yet and boy will she be mad! I’m going to go live where no one will ever find me. I might even run away as far as Iceland!
Mooster: Hope you have a boat. Monkey Moe, you should just tell your mom what happened. If you confess it then she’ll forgive you and you can help work off the cost of a new one in chores. You don’t have to run away! Besides, you can’t go where no one will ever find you.
Monkey Moe: Yes I can. If I don’t tell anyone where I’m going, no one will know.
Mooster: That’s not true, Moe. Someone will always see you, no matter where you go.
Monkey Moe: Do you mean someone from the CIA is following me already? Mom knows about the phone and she’s hunting me down! How did find out so fast!!? Hide me! Hide me!
Mooster: I’m not talking about your mom or the CIA or the phone, Moe.
Monkey Moe: I gotta hide. You gotta hide me! Where can I hide?
Mooster: That’s what I’m talking about, Moe. You can’t hide.
Monkey Moe: I know! I’ll go down into Gram’s root cellar. NO ONE will see me there. It’s dark and damp and very quiet. No one will see me. I’ll be hidden from sight.
Mooster: Moe! Will you listen to me?
Monkey Moe: Huh? What?
Mooster: I think you need to sit and listen to today’s Bible story. When I’m all finished, if you still want to hide, then go right ahead.
Monkey Moe: Well…..I guess I could wait a few minutes. But who do you keep saying is going to see me no matter where I go?
Mooster: That’s Who I’m going to tell you about. God sees you no matter where you are or what you are doing. You cannot hide from Him. But there was a man in the Bible who thought just like you are right now – thinking he could hide from God. But he had an exciting adventure to teach him otherwise.
Monkey Moe: What was his name? What happened?
Mooster: Well, in the book of Jonah, in the Bible, we read the story of the prophet, Jonah.
Monkey Moe: What’s a prophet?
Mooster: That’s another name for a man of God – one who followed the Lord and spoke what God wanted him to say. Well one day, the Lord spoke to Jonah and said, “Arise, go to Ninevah, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me!”
Monky Moe: Huh?
Mooster: That means God said, “The people of Ninevah are doing so many bad things that I want you to go warn them! Something bad is going to happen. I’m going to be judging them for their wicked deeds!”
Monkey Moe: So Jonah went to Ninevah?
Mooster: Nope. The Bible says Jonah rose up to run away to Tarsish, another town far away. He wanted to run away from the Lord because he didn’t want to do what God told him to do. In order to get to Tarshish, he had to get on a boat in Joppa. So he found the captain and he paid for a ticket and he climbed down into the bottom of the boat.
Monkye Moe: Hey, that was pretty smart! Kind of like my Gram’s root cellar. No one would see him there!
Mooster: Wrong. God saw him down there in the bottom of the boat. God can see anybody, anywhere. And God wasn’t happy that Jonah was running away from Him. So the Bible says God sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, that means a huge storm, and the captain and crew were afraid the boat would be broken to pieces! They were so afraid that they started throwing things overboard to lighten the load of the ship, but it wasn’t helping.
Monkey Moe: Sounds scary! Where was Jonah?
Mooster: He was asleep in the bottom of the boat.
Monkey Moe: Sleeping? You gotta be kidding me!
Mooster: That’s what the crew thought too. The shipmaster came and found him and asked him why he was sleeping instead of praying to his God. He told him to wake up and pray in case his God would hear him and spare the ship. Then the shipmaster decided to draw straws and see whose fault this storm was. The Bible says the lot fell upon Jonah. He drew the short straw. Then the crew knew the storm was Jonah’s fault. So they asked him what he had done.
Monkey Moe: What did he say? Did he tell them he was running away from God?
Mooster: Yes he did. And they wanted to know why he would do such a thing and make so powerful a God be so angry. See, they didn’t know there was just one true God, but they were figuring it out really quickly! And they asked Jonah what they should do to make God happy and turn off the storm. So Jonah said, “Toss me in the water and the storm will cease. I know this storm is because of me.”
Monkey Moe: Did they do that?
Mooster: Not right away. The captain didn’t want to toss Jonah over because he was afraid it would kill him. So they tried to steer the boat toward land, but it didn’t work. And they had thrown over all the loose stuff they could and it wasn’t helping. And all the sailors had prayed to all the gods they could think of and it wasn’t helping, either. So finally, the captain came to Jonah and said, “Okay…I guess you’re going overboard.” But before they threw him over, they prayed to the Lord God Jehovah and asked Him not to hold them accountable for Jonah’s death. And as soon as Jonah hit the water, the sea was calm!
Monkey Moe: WOW! I bet the sailors were very surprised!
Mooster: They sure were. And they prayed and offered sacrifices and recognized that the Lord Jonah was running away from was the one true God. So God got honor even through Jonah’s disobedience. The shipmaster and the sailors then knew who the real God was – the Lord God Jehovah. But Jonah still had to answer to God. The men were so glad to have the storm over, they might have even offered to take Jonah back on board…except for what happened next.
Monkey Moe: What happened?
Mooster: The Bible says God prepared, or made, a great fish. And it came swimming up to Jonah and opened its mouth and completely swallowed Jonah in one huge gulp!
Monkey Moe: OH WOW! It must have been a whale!
Mooster: Well, maybe. The book of Jonah doesn’t say what kind of fish it was. It might have been a whale, or it might just have been a very special fish God created right then just to use in Jonah’s life. Sometimes God uses interesting things to get our attention. Anyway, so there was Jonah. Stuck inside the stomach of a giant fish.
Monkey Moe: That sounds scary. And disgusting. And smelly. Wouldn’t there be dead fish in there too? And it would be so dark….no light at all. Jonah couldn’t see a thing!
Mooster: You’re right on all points. Scary, disgusting, smelly, and dark. Jonah couldn’t see a thing. But God could. God saw Jonah as clearly as if it were bright daylight. And after a while, Jonah was sorry for disobeying God. So he prayed and told God that he knew God knew what He was doing. He offered thanksgiving to God and said he was ready to obey.
Monkey Moe: So then what happened next?? Did Jonah die down there in the stomach of the great fish??
Mooster: Nope. God made the fish get sick. The Bible says the fish swam toward land and that he puked Jonah right up and out of his stomach and onto the dry land!
Monkey Moe: Oh that’s too gross! But kinda cool, too…God spared his life.
Mooster: Yep He did. And then He spoke to Jonah and said, “Get up and go preach to Ninevah!”
Monkey Moe: Did Jonah obey this time?
Mooster: He sure did! He RAN all the way to Ninevah. And as soon as got there he started preaching and warning the people. He told them God said that they needed to repent of all their sins and that because of their wickedness, God was going to destroy Ninevah.
Monkey Moe: Did Jonah have to explain what sins are?
Mooster: I’m sure he probably did. He probably explained that sins are when we do something wrong. Like when your mom tells you to go clean your room and you disobey and watch tv instead. Or when you take a cookie without asking. Or when you lie about where you’ve been or what you’re doing. Those are all sins.
Monkey Moe: Yeah…we all do bad things sometimes. I know I do…. What did the people say to Jonah?
Mooster: Well, the king of Ninevah commanded all his subjects to fast and pray and beg God for forgiveness of their sins. He said maybe God would hear them and not destroy the city after all.
Monkey Moe: Did the people do what the king said?
Mooster: They sure did! The Bible says God saw their works, that they turned away from their evil doings, and God changed His mind and decided not to destroy the city!
Monkey Moe: Really? Wow! That sure was nice of God! I’m glad Jonah decided to do the right thing and obey God and do what God wanted him to do. All those people would have died if he hadn’t, huh?
Mooster: That’s right, Moe. It’s always best to do what God wants. Speaking of doing what God wants, Moe, do you think God wants you to run away because you broke your mom’s phone?
Monkey Moe: No………I guess He doesn’t. And it wouldn’t matter anyway. Even if Mom didn’t find me, God would know where I am.
Mooster: That’s right. So what do you think would be the right thing for you to do?
Monkey Moe: I think I need to go find my mom and tell her what happened. I know she’s going to be mad. But I’ll tell her that I’m willing to do chores and work off the money she’s going to have to spend to buy a new phone.
Mooster: That’s the best idea, Moe. Your mom will not be mad for long. In fact, because you are telling her right away, she might not get mad at all! But I’m sure she will be glad to let you work it off. Fessing up and doing right is what will please God and make you happiest in the long run. We are always happiest when we are right with God.
Monkey Moe: Okay, Mooster. That’s where I’m going right now! Bye! And thanks for the story!
Mooster: Bye Moe! Well kids, that’s the Bible story I had for today. I hope you learned something from it too. Remember – whenever you do wrong, you need to admit it. But more importantly, God sees you ALWAYS. Everything you do, everything you say, everything you read or watch – God sees it all! And He loves you and cares for you and wants what is best for you. Come back next week and we’ll have another story! Bye~~
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