“The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’”

Luke 15:21 (Message)

In the story of the prodigal son, when the reckless son returns to his father, he has all the sorrowful words of repentance ready to be presented before the father. The negative thoughts of guilt, regret, unworthiness, and shame must also play out constantly in his already tormented mind. As the son saw his home far off, a million things must have run through his mind that would make him turn around and never come back to his home again. But to the son’s surprise, he saw an old man running toward him, and realized that it was his father running to him. In his mind, the son must have thought that the day of reckoning had come, and his overdue sins had demanded justice for all the pain he had caused his father to endure all this time. Instead of an incoming judgment that the son expected to receive from his father, the father embraced and kissed him.

The love of the father caused the prodigal son to spill out his heart confession, “Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.” Do you notice that the father did not even acknowledge or take account of all the waste and loss or sins of the prodigal son, but immediately forgave them all in his heart, as if he wasn’t listening to his son’s confession, even if they are true? Instead, the father ordered his servants to quickly bring a clean set of clothes and dress his almost-naked son, to put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. To top it all off, he ordered his servants to get a prize-winning heifer and roast it for a great feast he is about to have! The only thing the father acknowledged is this, “My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.” (Luke 15:22-24 – MSG) If this earthly father can show such forgiveness, mercy and blessing toward his wasteful, disrespectful and sinful son when he returns home, how much more will your heavenly Father show the same or even more amazing grace, amazing love and amazing blessing toward you when you come to Him despite of your past, what you have done and what you might think you deserve as a result of your failures and sins. The young son in this story thought he deserved punishment, but instead, he was met with love and grace, the unmerited favor of the father to restore everything that was rightfully his in the beginning. The father sees his son as if he has never sinned against him and has never disgraced his family name or reputation at all through his past sinful actions.

When we fail God, we tend (by default) to devalue our self-worth and position that God eternally would never take away from us in the first place. Why do we think less of ourselves and burden ourselves with our guilt and condemnation? It is because there is an eternal part of us created in the image of God that wants to stand fully confident, fully perfect, fully accepted, and fully loved before Him. That self-image of a perfect relationship with God was found before the fall of Adam and is found again through a relationship with the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Through the cross, Jesus has restored that big chasm that separated us from the love of God and made us worthy as joint heirs in Christ to receive all the inheritance of the abundant life we deserve to receive. Since Jesus is deserving of all blessing, glory, and honor in the Beloved, so are you because your life is found in Him!

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:17

This Devotional is from:

“Live The New You – 365 Days Devotional in Living the Real You”