Hello faithful readers! I feel that God put this blog on my heart to share. So sometimes we turn to sin and run away from God. This got me thinking about the parable of the prodigal son. So the son asks the father for his inheritance of the estate before his father even dies! He takes the money and goes out and lives wildly and spends all his money. He winds up being a servant to someone during a severe famine. One day he’s feeding the pigs (which this man is so far from his Jewish ways which would forbid having any dealings with pigs) and he wants to eat what the pigs are eating because he’s starving. Then he comes to his senses. He realizes his father treats his servants well and it would be better to be a servant in his father’s house than be a servant here. So he says he will say to his father, I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” Luke 15:18-19. Get this he realized that he had sinned both against his Father and against God. When we sin we need to come to our senses and realize that sin is against God and others as well. Even though the son did not feel worthy to be his father’s son his father didn’t feel that way. The father always sees him as his son. Much like God always sees us as his son or daughter. So the son returns to the father.
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long
way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to
his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.[a]’ 22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe
in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his
feet. 23 And kill the calf we
have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was
lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. Luke 15:20-24
One thing that stands out is the father saw his
son from afar off meaning he was waiting on a daily basis for his son to
return. God waits for us too and he is waiting to restore us into a right
relationship with him. He wants that relationship with us. He longs for us to
draw close and yes he longs for us to come to our senses and realize he has a better
life for us, a life of redemption in place of sin. He is waiting for us to
repent and he is waiting for us to rejoice with him when we return. He will
celebrate when we return and he will clothe us with the robe of righteousness. The
robe represented the favored son and was a covering to show others he belongs
to his father and that he is his father’s son. He will give us sandals that represent
the gospel of peace. The ring would be used to seal letters in wax bearing a
message of his father’s words. The ring represents the authority that the son
comes in the name of his father; much like we go in the father’s name when he
gives us a mission. He also will give us his Holy Spirit which gives us
authority to speak against the darkness in Jesus name. It is when we feel lost
that he is waiting for us to be found.
One thing that stands out to me too is the father let
the son have his inheritance and he let his son leave and go his own way but he
never lost hope that his son would return-he waited for him to return. It is
when we repent and turn from our sin that we can return to our Heavenly Father.
He is waiting in anticipation with open arms. He is waiting to rejoice with
you. Don’t allow the sin to keep you from your heavenly Father, repent, turn
around and you’ll see he’s been waiting for you all along.
