"So he got up and came to his father. But
while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for
him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. "And the son said to him,
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy
to be called your son.' "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring
out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on
his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has
been found.' And they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:20-24
A Father’s Care
It seems almost impossible that anyone can go through
life without believing there is God. But a similar, if not greater tragedy, is
to go through life with a wrong picture or concept of God. What is God really like? Jesus reveals the
Father for us in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke
15. Some say it should be titled the Parable of the Father
because it shows us the right picture or concept of the Father. Jesus shows us the Father cares for His
children. There is God as He is and then there is God as you and I see and
understand Him. It is interesting that
the greatest problems Jesus encountered were those who carried their own
picture of what and who they thought about God.
Jesus drew the outcasts, publicans and sinners like a magnet. Why? Because the Father is one who cares.
He is like the shepherd who leaves the 99 and goes
after the one, until He finds it. He is
the Shepherd in Psalm 23 who … Provides, Leads, Guides,
Comforts, Prepares, and Anoints forever.
He is like the father who has two sons, one living away and one at home.
He welcomes home the wayward son and who pleads with the other son to
forgive. The point is to give us the
correct concept of a Father who cares for all His children.
A Father’s Concern
It’s hard to watch your children struggle. We want to take away their pain and yet
realize that it is the great teacher. The
son in the parable of the prodigal son, comes to his father and says in
essence, "Dad, it appears that you're going to live a long while yet and
I've been waiting a long time for my inheritance. I don't want to wait any
longer for it, so give it to me now. I can't wait for you to die."
We would be quick to say that he deserved what he got.
But that's the way we see it when it is not our own children. Who do you think suffered the most – the
father or the son? Every parent knows the answer to that question. The son may
have suffered, but nothing compared to what the father was going through. The Father grieves over the sin of his
children.
A Father’s Compassion
While still in the pigpen, the son considers all that
his father's servants have to eat. The
non-Christians get along better in life than Christians who are running away
from God. No one on earth is a miserable
as a Christian backsliding into the world.
The son saw himself as "not worthy". Why did he ever think he
was worthy? The truth is we were never worthy on our own. Our worth comes only
through the cross and blood of Jesus Christ. That's why the Father receives us in His love,
mercy, and grace, regardless of how far we've gone. He bathes and cleanses us from the filth of
the world and restores us as sons and daughters as though we never left home. Our Father gives us an example that any dad
will find hard to live up to. And yet,
the more we can be like him the more we will bless our children.
Scripture
to Claim
He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Malachi 4:6
He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Malachi 4:6
