I love the story of the prodigal son, in Luke 15. It’s a a familiar story and as I read it this morning, I was moved like I read it for the first time. This younger son asked for his inheritance early, and went away from home. As you know, he wastes all his money and sits in his shame for a while. Who knows how long he has waited there, far away from home: starving, isolated, and heavy with regret. His head knows that his Father is wealthy, but he thinks that the Father will be angry.
There he continues to be in lack, and trying to fix it by finding a job amongst the pig farmers. His resources are spent and there is a famine in the country that he has ran off to, what now? He is literally starving, working amongst filthy pigs, and no one has even noticed his plight. How lonely it is to be caught up in sin, shame and guilt!
That is Satan’s greatest tactic, to make us feel like our head knowledge is greater than what our heart knows. This younger man knows his Father will love him no matter what, he knows in his heart he should go home and admit his failures to a loving Father. I can imagine the people he is working with, are also discouraging him because Lord knows Satan will us those closest to you to instill doubt in the love God has for you. They will remind you of your every failure and watch you suffer. Christians do this to other Christians! Casting condemnation, as if it is ours to give!
In our hearts, when we have truly met with a loving, gracious, and forgiving God, we should know what his response will be. It’s the same, just as this Father and his son in the story. When the young man went home, he had planned to beg his Father’s forgiveness, and ask to work as a hired hand! He expects his own family to shame him! How many times have we ourselves went to enter back into God’s arms expecting: rejection, punishment, and to be turned away? Religion serves a God of constant demands, punishment, hostility and abandonment. Jesus, has arms open wide, just as the Father in this parable. The son came home and was greeted with joy and celebration, in spite of his sin. Jesus hates sin, but he doesn’t reject us when we come with humble hearts. Come home.
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