Luke 15:11-32 (Read it!)
This is the parable of the prodigal son. Some may have heard
this before but lets take a deeper look...
To summarize it up, this is a parable of a man who has two
sons. One of which stays faithful and the other one who takes the property he
has been given by his father and blows it on dishonorable and reckless living.
So not only has he ran away from home but now he has no money or property cause
he blew it on stupid stuff. Then a famine arose in the country where he was and
he began to be in need, so he decides to get a job. He got a job feeding pigs
and even desired the food he had to give to the pigs! No one had compassion for
him because he blew it and made dumb decisions in his past. He would get better
treatment as a servant back at home! So he says alright I will go back to my
Father's house and tell him I have sinned against him and heaven and I just
want to be a servant in his house, because even that would be better treatment
and provision then where I am now. So he builds up the courage to return home
and when he does his father immediately had compassion on him and ran and
embraced him and kissed him. The son then confesses to his father that he has
done wrongly to him and to heaven and the father doesn't even care! He is so
excited that his son is home! He tells his servants to bring out the best robe,
and the best ring, and shoes. He tells them to go prepare the fattened calf to
celebrate the son's return. The father is so happy that his son is simply alive
and simply found.
I LOVE this story! It is such a beautiful picture of the
Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. I know for me I was wandering in this
world, living it just to live it. Having a good time with friends, focusing on
myself the whole time and how to "make it" in the world and just
living it up, selfishly, all for me. After numerous events I finally came to a
point where I knew I needed Jesus, I knew that nothing in this world could
satisfy me. I would always wake up the next day feeling empty or alone no
matter how many friends I had.
So, with Jesus, we come to God as the son comes to the
father in this parable. We have nothing but sin and the Father takes our sin
and gives us robes, shoes, rings, and the BEST food to eat. We give him our
terrible sin and He gives us nothing but blessings! He doesn't make us work
back the money we blew, he doesn't bring up our sins in the past, or how we
wronged Him. He simply sees us and has compassion. He delights in us returning,
in us being alive, in us being found. Life is so much bigger than sinning.
Jesus did away with that on the cross so that we could have a RELATIONSHIP with
God, that is all God wants is a genuine relationship with us. He wants our
hearts. He will take our sins so he can have our hearts. He took away all
shame! In the garden of Eden when he used animals skins to cover Adam and Even
and 2,000 years ago when he sent His only begotten Son to die a sacrificial
death! A lot of the time when we sin we feel distant from the Lord or ashamed
of it and that keeps us from coming to Him but as Hebrews says, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22).
He simply wants a relationship with us. I love in this
parable too that the son confessed he needed help from his father. He confessed
that he sinned and made a wrong decision. When we confess we need God, and we
understand and come to the conclusion that we can't make it on our own and we
need Him, He gets so excited. He wants to be there for us, He wants to care for
us, He wants us to be dependent and desperate for Him! He loves to help and to
save! We see that characteristic in His Son Jesus Christ! When we confess in
our hearts that we need Jesus Christ, He comes running to embrace us because we
finally get the sacrificial love and we finally want Him and we finally love
Him. Let us be as the son was and gather courage to return to our Father. And
like the Son, we will receive blessing on top of blessing. Anytime we turn to
come home, the Lord comes running, for He is the Father.
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