The Love of A Father

As I was reading The story of “The Prodigal Son” in Matthew. I have read it many times, and you probably have too. As I was reading, God focused my attention not on the prodigal, but the father. When the son demanded his inheritance, the father could have said, “I am not giving you your inheritance right now.” Or “You’re not responsible enough to handle it yet” …. but he didn’t. The father gave him the estate possibly knowing what the outcome would be. Why would he let him have his way? I believe it is because God will NEVER force us to love him. The son’s, there were two, had the same choice that we have. We can choose to love God or not. When the son left his father’s house, the one thing we don’t see is the father “chasing after his son. The father let the son go. The father NEVER once bails him out. Did he not love the Son? Of course he did! The son went out and made a zillion bad life choices. In spite of this, the father was waiting and watching for the son to come home. He still loved him immensely. I believe the father knew something that we often forget. The bad life choices can be the catalyst to bring us to the love of the father. The son wasn’t ready to love the father until he was out in a pig pen wallowing in the mud wrestling pigs for food. Sometimes when we see a friend, a spouse, a child, making what we know is a horrible decision, the best thing we can do is pray but let them go. We don’t let them go because we don’t love them, but because we do love them. I find this hard because I am a nurturer, protector. When I see someone floundering after making a terrible choice I want to rush in like a category 5 tornado and bail them out. That’s not always a bad thing, but it MAY be if it keeps them from longing for God. Chasing after people never causes them to love us or God. Do you think the son would have ever come home if the father had chased him? Maybe, but I doubt it. He likely would have resented him and gone farther from home. The son had to realize what he gave up. The father loved him enough to let him go, so that WHEN he came back the son would love him. The father waited and watched for the day that the son would return home. When the son turned toward home, THEN the father went to him.

Comments

Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid. I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road. I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but

The God of Order

Yesterday, my children and I went walking on a bike trail. The weather was perfect. Sunny, warm but not hot. As we were walking, we started to talk about creation. Creation itself always amazes me. Can you imagine watching creation unfold at the word of the Almighty? It would be the most glorious and lovely thing to see. As we were talking, I asked, “What do you think would have happed if God had created people first?” They stopped gave me a questioning look then my daughter said, “I suppose that we would have starved because there was no food.” And we all had a laugh creating other scenarios for what might have happened if creation had happened in any other way. Yet, the fact is that creation itself demonstrates that God is a God of order. Each day of creation built on what had been done the day before. It also reminds me that God wants our lives to be as orderly as possible. God planned creation before one word was spoken

Inspirations

Search This Blog