Still Wanted and Welcomed
“And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.”
Is it just me, or does anybody else talk to themselves? I do this all the time. I role-play what I think I would say if I had the opportunity. I talk through conversations with family members, friends, colleagues, and random strangers.
Usually, I’m talking under my breath in private, maybe in the mirror in the bathroom. I need this time to process my thoughts and my feelings because it helps me be prepared and attempt to be wise in how I communicate in my relationships.
Sometimes when I really listen to what I say in my own head, I know that is where it needs to stay because after I’ve run myself through the script, I’m like, “Girl, don’t say that! It will not go well!” Or, I’m like, “Oooh, Jesus, forgive me cause my heart ain’t right, Lord!”
In Luke 15, Jesus tells a group of Pharisees and teachers of religious law to listen to a few stories. They had an issue with Jesus spending time with “sinful people,” and He needed them to know that those who walk away are still wanted and welcomed in the Kingdom.
In Luke 15:11-32, He tells them the story of a father who had two sons. He gets their attention right away because He tells them this father had a younger son who was basically like, “Ya dead to me, give me my inheritance now so I can go live my best life!”
The younger son is writing his father’s death certificate while he’s still alive. He’s saying he no longer wants to be in this family. This is virtually an unforgivable offense in Jewish culture.
But that’s not what really got them. Having a wild child was nothing new. But this father was new, he was different because the father in this story granted his request. Now that would have been unheard of, foolish, in fact. So now everybody has pulled out their proverbial popcorn because they need to know how this plays out!
You know how the story goes. The son gets his share of the money, wastes all of it on lavish living, and ends up broke and hungry, cleaning up after pigs. He got so low that he started looking at the pig food, thinking, “Them pig pods sure look good,” but he couldn’t even have that!
Then he started thinking to himself, “I got it! Why serve these dudes in a foreign country when I could be a servant in my daddy’s house? Daddy’s servants even have leftovers! So I’m gonna approach dad really humble-like: I know I messed up big time, I have zero expectations of forgiveness, please let me work as a hired servant.”
This script sounded good to him, and I can see him replaying the script over and over in his head so that when we finally got to his father, he could say it so perfectly that his father would agree. He had to get this right because his life depended on it.
So the son makes it to his father’s estate. His father, watching and waiting to welcome his son back home, sees him while he’s still a long way off, and he runs to him! Again, those eating popcorn are like, “Say what? Dignified fathers don’t run! We stroll.” But not this father.
He runs to his son, throwing his arms around him. He allows him to get out part of this script that his son prepared, but he cuts him off and instructs his servants to prepare a grand welcome for his son, who once was dead, but now is alive.
He honors his returning son with a feast, a robe, a ring, and sandals. He clothed him in the finest robe, just as Christ has covered our sins and clothed us in His robes of righteousness. The ring he gave him was a family signet ring that meant that he was reinstated as a son in the family. He was worthy again, not because of his deeds, but because of his relation to the father, just as our worth comes from our relationship with the Lord.
During this time, slaves didn’t normally wear sandals, but they usually carried and tied a master’s sandals. So when the father said, “Put sandals on his feet,” he was saying, “No, you will not return to me a mere household servant. I welcome you as my son, as one with authority and position in my house.”
God has given you a robe, a ring, and sandals for your feet. All of this is truly a gift that only has to be received.
But to get there, we have to listen to a new script. We can’t keep replaying the broadcast of the enemy that just continually announces our sin and worthlessness. We have to listen to the Father’s script: “I’ve covered you. Your worth is based on who you are to Me. You’ll never stop being My child.”
It is dangerous to try to fit God into a mold of someone we know or understand here on earth. You can’t put God in a box. God is unique. He is love. There is none like our God. He’s not wagging His finger at you and all your mistakes. He’s wrapping His arm around you, saying, “I love you, be reconciled to Me. I am patient and kind. I don’t hold records of wrong. I will never fail you.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
And we have to release this mentality that we have to work for or earn our relationship with our Father. It doesn’t matter how far we’ve run away or how hard we have fallen. God has done all the work through Jesus. He simply says, “Come.”
Prayer Starter
Father, we are so grateful that Your word is greater than any of our thoughts or the lies of the enemy. We ask that Your script lead us in all we do and remind us of the love of Christ that has come to seek and save us, no matter how far we’ve wandered. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Dig Deeper
Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (NIV)
Reflections
What script have you kept repeating to yourself? How does God’s Word or script transform your view of yourself, others, and God? How does the father in the story reflect God’s nature and the kind of Father that God is to you?
