“Hey Dad, I want to see the world. Can I have my inheritance now?” Isaac asks eagerly. “Are you sure?” questions his father. Isaac’s eyes light up, “Yes! This is my dream, dad!” Soon Issac starts his journey with pockets full of his inheritance and a heart full of hopes and dreams. However, it isn’t long before Isaac has recklessly blown his money along with his dreams. Then when a famine strikes, he finds himself broke, hungry & far from home.
Desperate for money this Jewish boy takes a very non- Jewish job feeding non-kosher pigs! As he enters the pigpen, he slips in the mud landing face to face with the pigs. “What am I doing?” he cries. “I’m hungry, alone, and I’m talking to pigs! My dad’s servants have it better than this. I’m going home!” With a mix of hope and shame, Isaac makes his way back home with faith that his father will at least give him a job as a servant.
The story above is a fictional account of the prodigal son parable in Luke 15:11-32. Jesus tells this parable to illustrate the merciful love of our Heavenly Father as reflected in what happens when the prodigal son returns.
WHAT HAPPENS?
But while he was still far away, his father saw him and felt compassion. He ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your presence.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son,”
Luke 15:20-21
How do you think the prodigal son would have felt at that moment? His father could have angrily punished him for his reckless behavior. Instead, His father showed him mercy as he enveloped him in his loving arms. Then the father does something that the son would never have imagined.
But the father said to his slaves, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let’s celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life—he was lost and is found!”
Then they began to celebrate,
Luke 15:22-24 TOL
WHAT IS MERCY?
Mercy is “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish.”1 Doesn’t that sound like something we all need when we mess up? In those times when we feel our lives are destroyed, hope crushed, dreams in ashes, who shows us merciful love? Like the prodigal son found merciful love in his father’s arms, we can find merciful love in our Heavenly Father’s arms.
But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He loved us,
Ephesians 2:4
Our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally and is there to lift us out of the ash heap and make something good out of the rubble in our lives.
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor,
1 Samuel 2:8a NIV
FATHERS
In this story of the prodigal son, we see a loving father, don’t we? One that is welcoming and forgiving even though his son messed up. Our earthly father’s may not always be that loving, but our Heavenly Father is. By faith, we can know that our Heavenly Father longs to hold us in His arms, forgive and comfort us no matter what we have done. When we turn to our Heavenly Father, He will readily embrace us with unwavering, merciful love as He welcomes us back.
Who forgives all your iniquity,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
Psalm 103:3-4 ESV
REFLECTION
Do you need our Heavenly Father’s merciful love?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, as I write Psalm 103:3-4 and say it aloud, reveal You love for me. Help me to receive Your merciful love. In Jesus name. Amen.
IN FAITH, RUN INTO OUR
HEAVENLY FATHER’S ARMS OF LOVE
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*For information on making Jesus Christ your Savior, email me or visit, http://www.peacewithgod.net/
1 oxford dictionary
Photo pig, patrickLFXC93
Photo prodigal son, jeffjacobs1990
Photo father, Sebastian Leon
