Luke 15:18-20 (NKJV) 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ 20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
This son had left his father on pretty bad terms. He had demanded to have his inheritance early, and then he left with it, abandoning his father and his family.
Only after he had wasted it all on the party life, and found himself homeless and feeding pigs to earn a small income did he come to his senses and decide to return home.
Ih his mind, he wasn’t even worthy to be called his father’s son any longer. He had determined that he would return home, even it if meant working as a hired hand on his father’s land.
You see, life had taught him some hard lessons that can never be learned in books, or even by word of mouth. Sometimes we just have to learn by walking through something. Some might call it “trial by fire”.
Many years ago Pastor Ellie was speaking with an elderly pastor friend of ours. She asked him “How can we just sit back and watch as our children make poor choices and get themselves into trouble?”.
And he answered her very wisely, with the voice of experience, saying “sometimes you just have to let them go through the fire”.
And so it was with this particular son. He had gone through the fire and learned some things the hard way. Now as he headed home, he fully expected to be shunned, and possibly not even welcomed home.
But as his father saw him in the distance, he ran to meet him, ecstatic that his lost son had returned home.
And so it is in our own lives. We make mistakes. Sometimes they are major mistakes. And sometimes we pay a dear price for those mistakes. And when we’ve walked through the fire, hopefully we’ve learned from it.
And we may feel like there is no way that God can still love us afterward. We feel dirty, stupid and unworthy of being loved.
But if we have a genuinely repentant heart, God welcomes us home with open arms, rejoicing that we’ve come back to Him.
We just have to humble ourselves and go to Him. He will never throw our mistakes in our face.
Is God speaking to you today? Don’t ignore His voice. And don’t be afraid to go to Him. He’s waiting for you with his arms wide open.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-315-0902
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