Scripture: Luke 15:11-32 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“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.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Devotion: “There is a tendency in us to resist the leadership of God, and there is a tendency in God to chase us.” Lydia shared this in her message last week. And as we wrap up Jonah 1, this one of the key takeaways.
Now, to understand that this is a tendency of God as she shared and not just unique to Jonah, our Scripture for today is about the prodigal son. This is a beautiful parable that Jesus used to describe the excitement of God when someone returns back to Him. In this story, the father runs towards his son when he is still a long way off in the distance. He embraces him, forgives him, and celebrates his return.
This is how God felt when Jonah surrendered. While the Lord sent a storm to put Jonah back on track, he still had to surrender his will and his wants over to God. And when he did so, his Heavenly Father rejoiced.
The same is true for you and me. When we re-surrender our lives to Christ, inviting Him to have His way in our lives, He celebrates and is glad. It is not as if he is reprimanding us upon our return or waiting so far back in the distance that we need to work our way back to Him. No, He pursues us, even when we don’t see it. He is waiting with arms open wide for us to give our hearts back to Him. Whether we have been resisting Him and His leadership for one day, one year, or our entire lives, He is right there. He chases us down and wants us to come home. And when we do, time and time again, He rejoices.
Reflect:
- Another great example of the Lord’s pursuit of us comes from Matthew 18:12-14, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
- What does it mean to you that the Lord pursues you?