Jonah | Jonah Goes
Read This
God’s Word is powerful, so powerful it can create faith in the hearts of even the worst people.
Jonah 3:1-10 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Remember This
Jonah 2:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
Parent Cue
Morning Time
Write your favorite Bible verse on a sticky note and leave it where your child will see it. God’s word is powerful and little things like this can be a way that God is speaking to them.
Bed Time
Ask your kids if they’ve seen or experienced themselves somebody’s words hurting someone else. Talk about that moment and how we can respond or if they are the ones hurts, listen and affirm your child in the midst of their own hurt feelings.
Meal Time
At dinner time – have some fun with God’s words. Encourage your kids to imagine what it was like when he was making the animals and just speaking things into existent. Imagine what it was like when God made the platypus. Or cats?
Drive Time
While you’re driving, ask your kids about whose words in their life have a big impact? Ask them for details about the impact of words (good or bad) from teachers, friends, coaches, small group leaders. Based on what kind of words they think about, help them think about how to respond to those words.