Are We Too Far Gone?
“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:18-20).
Turning his face away, the prodigal son stepped towards the door, leaving his Father’s house.
He had taken his inheritance from his Father’s hands, not letting the expression on His Father’s face penetrate his heart. He proceeded as planned, carrying with him the possession he held so dear weighing heavily on his back.
The Father stood there in silence, watching him leave. He did not argue. He did not sit his son down and force him to stay. He just gave that son what he had asked for.
The Father did not wrestle with him. He simply gave his son over to what his heart desired.
The son spent everything he had and was left with the gut-wrenching reality check that material possessions were never meant to satisfy the human heart. The things of this world fade far too quickly.
Upon recognizing the harsh reality of where his choices had left him, the son recalled the generosity of His Father. He remembered the heart of safety, the warmth of His Father’s embrace. And he set his steps towards home, expecting the bare minimum treatment as if his care was always dependent on his performance.
As he arose and returned to his Father, His Father was not absent-minded of His son. On the contrary, not a day had gone by that He had forgotten His beloved Son, but love requires freedom of choice.
Then the son came into sight. While he was still a long way off, Scripture states his father saw him and felt compassion. He ran, embraced him, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20) Though the son proceeded with his speech, explaining why he deserved to be treated just well enough to get by, the Father ignored the son’s words and proceeded with His own celebration plans. For His son had returned home.
This is the God we serve.
How precious is the love which finds us as we are yet calls us to a loving commitment? Who celebrates our return rather than holding our sins against us.
Aren’t you glad that when you have brought up every reason to God for Him not to love you, He interrupted your words with His plans of celebration?
The One who has every right to call us “unclean” but looks upon us with love and lifts us to our feet. He asks for holiness, but never from a place of deprivation, and instead chooses first to fill us with His love.
He is the same One who leaves the 99 to take hold of the one sheep gone astray.
Charles Spurgeon once said,
“We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited for us.”[1]
Wherever you find yourself today, know that you are never too late to come home. To find rest once again in your Father’s house. To be cleansed, to start new.
He is waiting for you.
[1] Spurgeon, Charles H. Morning & Evening: A Devotional Classic for Daily Encouragement: New International Version. Hendrickson Publishers, 2016.