Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
And he divided unto them his living.
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together,
and took his journey into a far country,
and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all,
there arose a mighty famine in that land;
and he began to be in want.
There was a sermon in which was an illustration given of two men who were discussing the first man’s son who was always getting into trouble. His friend told him something like this, “If he were my son, I would let him go.” To which the father replied, “If he were your son, I would let him go also.” God’s love is a Father’s love. God so loved that He gave… He gave that which was the dearest and most precious to His heart, His Son. If it were possible, could you, or would you give your only son to be tortured and then killed by wicked men? Would you allow him to die a horrible, agonizing and brutal death even for the worst criminals of this world so that they could live? Yet, God gave His best and is still giving eternal life to those that believe on His Son as their Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I love the story of the Prodigal Son. It is so much a picture of a Heavenly Father’s love and longsuffering. Never mind that this son broke his father’s heart. Never mind that this son caused him shame. Never mind that his son wasted his whole inheritance partying it up. Never mind that his son so disgraced himself and ended up in a pig pen desiring even the husks which the swine were eating. Never mind the level and degree of filth, slime and degradation that this son had fallen into – He was loved! There was a father waiting back home that cared, that yearned for his son! How many times did that father look upon the horizon watching, longing to see the figure of his son heading home? Vs. 20 …But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Thank God that the son came to his senses! I love how the Bible says, “He came to himself.” He finally realized his deplorable condition and thought about his father. In his desperation he remembered that even the hired servants in his father’s house had an abundance of bread. They had plenty of food, while he was starving. When this realization came to him, he was greatly humbled. He said, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” The big shot, cocky, know-it-all attitude had left him. That man who was proud and arrogant died there that day in the pig pen, and a new man climbed out. His heart had changed! His attitude was that of seeing himself the way he really was. In doing so, he was truly sorry for what he had done both against God and against his father. He did something more than just think about it, he acted, “he arose, and came to his Father.”
While traveling through the midwest some years ago, we visited a church and were there for revival. We were told about the previous fellowship meeting after which an event had occured as the brethren were leaving a certain restaurant. As the visiting pastor’s wife was walking out the door, a man was entering. She looked up and said, “I know you, you’re…” Her husband came up behind her and spoke to the man also. This was a man they had pastored previously some 18 or so years before in Germany. It turned out that this man and the party he was with changed their minds more than once about which restaurant they would attend that day, and it ended up they went to the same restaurant the preachers had gone to! It was truly a divine appointment. Later in the revival, on Sunday morning, that man was present in the service, nicely dressed in a suit. I thought he was one of the brothers that regularly attended there, and he was back for the evening service. God arrested this gentleman’s heart that night, and he lay prostrate before the altar in his suit, sobbing his way back to a heavenly Father that loved Him, and returning to the Saviour he had once confessed. It was an intense emotional conversion, but truly heart felt. This same man who entered the restaurant that day, and who was one of the boys from the servicemen’s home in Germany so many years previous, had been drawn back into the fold by the Loving Shepherd! It was a precious time in the Lord as He performed His wonderful work! It has been a blessing to see this dear brother and his wife at many of the conferences since that glorious conversion. The visiting pastor and his wife did not sow the seed in vain while they were in Germany. They have precious fruit to show for their labor. One plants, one waters, but God gives the increase. Praise the Lord!
As the father ran to his son, fell on his neck and kissed him, the son told his father he had sinned against heaven and against him and was not even worthy to be called his son. I love, love, love the father’s loving reception! The father didn’t shake his finger in his face and tell him, “I told you so!” He didn’t lecture him on the evil of his ways. He didn’t tell him what a sorry devil he was for breaking his heart and causing him shame. He didn’t even pull back in disgust at his sons appearance. I don’t know if he took a bath and cleaned up before this meeting, or still had the stench of the hogs upon him. But what a tender reunion that stirred father and son alike to the depths of their souls! I don’t know how many tears father and son shed at such a time, but the time of sorrow was past. It was time to have a homecoming party! A celebration! The best robe was brought for the son to put on! A ring was put on his finger! Shoes were put on his feet! The fatted calf was killed and was now cooking! They pulled out all the stops and struck up the band so to speak, and a glorious party took place!
Why all the festivities? Why the best robe? Why the fatted calf? Hear the father’s reply as he explained it all to his other son that never left his house, “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
God’s love is so beautiful in the story of the Prodigal Son. This is the kind of God He is! Every lost soul is an opportunity for redemption and a party! A sinner is so valuable to Him that He willingly paid the ultimate price to rescue them from their sinful plight! Heaven celebrates each time one sinner is saved.
Luke 15:10
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Pop Gaylord had a sweet story he told about God’s love. It seemed that a boy and his father were in a boat out in the middle of the ocean. The boy asked his father, “How big is God’s love? The father thought a moment then said, “Look up son, how far can you see?” It seemed to the boy that he could see forever! He then told the boy that God’s love is like that. He then took him to other parts of the boat and told him look out to the distant horizons as far as he could see. “God’s love is wider than that!” He then told the awestruck boy to look down into the great depths of the water – could he see the bottom? Then he told the boy,”That’s how deep God’s love is.” With wonder in his eyes, the boy exclaimed, “Daddy, what’s greater than all of that is, here we are right in the middle of God’s love! Ah, isn’t it so? Whether you are in America, or Africa, or China, or in the islands of the sea, wherever you are, YOU are in the middle of God’s love. What a glorious thought!
FROM MY HEART TO YOU 