July 6: Affirming His Grace.
HIS PATIENCE.
"The younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distance country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living."--Luke 15:13
There is something really exciting about the anticipation of a journey we are about to embark on. My friend remembers when he was a teenager living in a rural area, how he always wanted to go to the capital city. And when he did get a chance, he was so excited as he rode the train thinking about all the fun things he was planning to do. And naturally, the level of his excitement was directly related to the amount of dispensable money he carried that day.
The younger son, in the story of Jesus, is in that situation (Luke 15:13). He is heading to a country far away; he is young, filled with the anticipation of fun, and he has money, lots of it! Strangely, his father seems to be passive in all of this. Once the inheritance was divided, he does not attempt to prevent his son from going to the far country; he does not interfere in his son's life nor object to the way he is squandering his money. The father is patient. Why patient, we wonder? If there is ever a time to act, it is now! But the father knows that the only way his son can find his way back home is to realize that he has wandered away from home. In order to be found, he has to recognize that he has been lost. Have you ever gone to a distant country? Perhaps right now you may be wandering away from God, your Heavenly Father. And it can happen in little and big things, inside and outside of religious circles. If so, remember: God is a patient Father. Whenever we realize how lost we are, and turn back to Him, we will surely experience the joy of His embrace! (see Luke 15:20-23). The original word used for far away/distant (verse 13), is the same word used in the good news shared by Paul: "But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ....He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near" (Ephesians 2:13-17). "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found..." *
My Response:_________________________________________________________
* John Newton, "Amazing Grace," 1779, public domain.
HIS PATIENCE.
"The younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distance country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living."--Luke 15:13
There is something really exciting about the anticipation of a journey we are about to embark on. My friend remembers when he was a teenager living in a rural area, how he always wanted to go to the capital city. And when he did get a chance, he was so excited as he rode the train thinking about all the fun things he was planning to do. And naturally, the level of his excitement was directly related to the amount of dispensable money he carried that day.
The younger son, in the story of Jesus, is in that situation (Luke 15:13). He is heading to a country far away; he is young, filled with the anticipation of fun, and he has money, lots of it! Strangely, his father seems to be passive in all of this. Once the inheritance was divided, he does not attempt to prevent his son from going to the far country; he does not interfere in his son's life nor object to the way he is squandering his money. The father is patient. Why patient, we wonder? If there is ever a time to act, it is now! But the father knows that the only way his son can find his way back home is to realize that he has wandered away from home. In order to be found, he has to recognize that he has been lost. Have you ever gone to a distant country? Perhaps right now you may be wandering away from God, your Heavenly Father. And it can happen in little and big things, inside and outside of religious circles. If so, remember: God is a patient Father. Whenever we realize how lost we are, and turn back to Him, we will surely experience the joy of His embrace! (see Luke 15:20-23). The original word used for far away/distant (verse 13), is the same word used in the good news shared by Paul: "But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ....He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near" (Ephesians 2:13-17). "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found..." *
My Response:_________________________________________________________
* John Newton, "Amazing Grace," 1779, public domain.
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