Your Father Is Waiting

Your Father Is Waiting

When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, “At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.’”

So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

Luke 15:17-20

What is the picture of God like in your head? Is he a no-nonsense judge? a boring teacher? an impossible-to-please boss?

Jesus wanted us to see a picture in our minds of what God is really like, so he told a story about a proud, rebellious son who took his part of the inheritance from his father and went his own way. Ultimately, he ended up at the bottom of the barrel—feeding pigs that were eating better than he was. So he decided to go back to his father—never expecting to be accepted as a son, but just hoping to be taken on as one of the servants. On his way home he worked up a speech to give his father, but he never got the chance to give it. His father was waiting on the front porch, and when he saw his son he ran out to greet him, brought him a robe and a ring, and welcomed him back, not as a servant but as his son.

This is how Jesus wants us to see God, our Father. He wants us to see how giving and loving and forgiving he is. Even when we’re running away from him, wasting the resources he has given us, never thinking of him, God is still loving us and getting ready to welcome us back into closeness with him. He’s not preparing a lecture. He’s preparing a party.

If the day comes when you wake up to realize you’ve made a terrible mess of things and you think you’ve failed so miserably that you can’t face God, let alone ask his forgiveness, remember this picture of God. Then come running in his direction.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How do you picture God in your mind?

Why is it hard to turn to God when we’ve sinned? Should it be?

How can seeing God as a forgiving Father help you when you fail?