Remember when Junior decided he
would return home? Remorse and guilt filled his very being. He thought about
returning a lot. Then one day, he decided to return home. I wonder what God used as the catalyst. Could
it be he had to retrieve a pig from a stinking hog wallow for the owner? That
would do it for me.
Junior confessed to his father
that he was not worthy to be a son, but considered it a privilege to be a lowly
servant for him. He repented from his sin and understood his unworthiness. He
never expected his father to throw a party in his honor.
Junior’s father had the servants
get “the best robe” and put it on him.
He needed new clothes and to be cleaned up. When sinners repent, God
gives them a robe of righteousness. He cleans them up.
Just as the father in this story
celebrated, so does God the Father. Angels rejoice over even one sinner that
repents! This means that God loves each one of us – even if we get off track
and fall into sin. He is waiting for prodigals to return. He does not go after
them, give them a “second chance” without repentance. He patiently waits for us
sinners to come to our senses and return to him in humility.
What a wonderful God we have!
“But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and
put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring
hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my
son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to
be merry.” Luke 15:22-24.
© copyright Kevin T Boekhoff
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