On Sunday I shared a message from Luke 15 about the father of the Prodigal Son. I identified four things about his love for his son that are like the love our Heavenly Father has for us.
1. It’s a love that desires to BLESS His children.
The son in the story was rude, ungrateful, spoiled, and selfish, but that didn’t keep the father in the story from giving to him. God is generous. Blessing His children is a part of His heart just as blessing my children is a part of my heart. Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
2. It’s a love that SEEKS relationship with His children.
The man in this story knew what it was like to be estranged from a child he loved. He had watched him grow. He watched him leave. His father was heartbroken.
The most beautiful part is in verse 20 where we see the heart of the father so exposed. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
You know what this verse tells me? It tells me the father never quit loving his son, and he never gave up on him. While the son may have disengaged from the relationship with his father, the father NEVER disengaged from the relationship with his son.
3. It’s a love that FORGIVES His children when they repent.
It wasn’t just that the son realized he was out of options and couldn’t care for himself any longer. It wasn’t just that he realized he was in dire straits from an earthly perspective, but he he realized he had sinned. Look at verse 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ That boy didn’t just come home sorry. He came home changed.
As he prepared for his return he rehearsed what he was going to say and verse 19 tells us he was going to tell his father he was willing to become one of his father’s servants. He didn’t expect to have son status anymore. Servants did what the master told them to do. This young man was coming home to let his father call the shots from now on. Remorseful people are sorry for the past, but they don’t necessarily want to change the future. They just feel badly about how things have turned out. Repentant people, however, are not only sorry for the past, but they desire to do something to change in order for the future to never be a repeat performance of their past.
Confession is lip service. Repentance is life service.
4. It’s a love that RESTORES His children.
This son didn’t have to work his way back into his sonship. It was automatic. Joel 2:25 tells us God restores the wasted years to us. No matter what you have squandered, no matter have selfishly you have lived, no matter who you have hurt, God can bring restoration into your life.
Do you need a blessing from God? Do you need reassured of His love and desire to be in relationship with you? Do you need forgiveness? Do you desire to repent? Is there a relationship in your life that needs restored? Then you need to talk to the Heavenly Father whose love is so deep it will cover each one of those needs and more.
Make it a great week as you embrace the love of our Heavenly Father!
Pastor Melissa
