FRIDAY January 17th
Luke 15:20
‘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.’
As we come to the third of the stories that Jesus gave which Luke has recorded for us in chapter 15, it was difficult to know which of the verses to use, but I have chosen verse 20 because it speaks to us something about the love that God the Father has for those who in the first parable are lost sheep, in the second parable lost coins and here in the third parable, those who have left the home and gone to spend their time in a far country and wasted their lives with what is described as reckless living.
But besides the verse I have already quoted there is another verse that reads ‘But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!’’
The parable tells us that he had left the family, and in his low state he remembered what the rest of the household would have been enjoying, he came to himself, or he came to his senses, and he knew that he needed to return home. In his hopelessness there was hope! In his lostness there was a place where he could go to, in his recklessness there was the possibility of reconciliation. And so, he planned, and he prepared a speech, and he made for home.
This whole parable is such a wonderful story about the love of God and I like the title it is so often given which is, ‘the story of the prodigal son’, for it clearly shows us that many will have enjoyed the blessing of being a part of the family of God, and yet for some reason have chosen to leave and to go and to do their own thing, but God is ready to welcome them back.
It speaks to me of the need for we who are in the family of God to pray for those who have wandered away, to pray that they will come to their senses, that they will recall all that they were blessed with and enjoyed in the past and will make their way home to the Father and to the family of God.
What a wonderful picture we get as we begin to stop and visualize verse 20! God looking, God full of compassion, God running, God embracing and God kissing! Such is his love! Recapping chapter 15, we add, God searches carefully, God finds, God places upon his shoulder, God rejoices, God places us into his fold, and he welcomes us into his family.
The three stories show very clearly the value that God places upon each one of us, and which he demonstrated through what Jesus has done at Calvary.
He came to seek and to save that which is lost.
That is why I can say that Jesus is the sweetest name I now, and Jesus the very thought of thee with sweetness fills my breast, because he came and he found me.