This is one of the hardest truths we have to contend with as Christians; not that some very good-seeming people don’t have access to Heaven and the blessing of redemption, but that some truly awful people do. Spend enough time in religious circles, and you’ll eventually end up in a conversation on the subject of “unforgivable sin.”

Let’s do a quick recap. The sinful people of Nineveh heard God’s message and immediately initiated rituals of repentance. Similarly, the sailors on the boat who did not know God, offered sacrifices and begged forgiveness after tossing Jonah overboard.

If I am being honest, Jonah’s reluctance is pretty relatable. He has to go into a city that takes three days to get through and tell them they’re all doomed. Who would want to hear that kind of news? I know I’d ignore some random stranger who showed up with bad news I didn’t care for. Look at how Jonah responded to the direction from God that he didn’t like; would a city of wickedness be any better?

The times in our lives when we realize the need for redemption are often the conclusion to exhausting experiences. Maybe you’re coming out of a rough relationship, losing battles with addiction, or have been on the receiving end of some brutally honest feedback. If you reach a point where you recognize the need to break a cycle and make a change, God responds to that decision with a gift beyond forgiveness.

Now Jonah had what he wanted. He’d been taken by the fish to the realm of the dead and covered by the judgement of flood waters. This is the farthest from God a person can get, yet this also marked the point in all of the book of Jonah where he was the closest to God. This prayer of repentance that we read today meant he was turning around, changing his trajectory to align with God’s will.