My husband is a youth pastor and we’ve challenged our students to read the entire New Testament this summer. It’s a 90-day reading challenge and only comes down to about 12 minutes of reading a day! In today’s reading, we read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15.
This story has always hit differently in my mind since I listened to a sermon about a year ago that described my enneagram type (1!!) as the prodigal son’s brother… basically we are always doing the right thing, a hard worker, on top of things, etc., but we’re all about things being fair, and the prodigal son returning and being thrown a party after being gone and dishonoring his father, isn’t “fair.”
But guess what?!
Our Heavenly Father isn’t fair; He’s full of mercy and grace towards all His children. And we alllll need it, so we should be thankful. We all need that mercy just like the prodigal son was shown. There’s no benefit to compare the mercy shown to someone else versus what we think they should be shown versus what we’ve been shown because we are ALL sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and need Jesus to rescue us.
Then, I’ve been really into this song by River Valley Ages called, Prodigal. Go give it a listen right now and take in those words. Here are a few of the words.
You found my heart on the long way home
But you weren’t mad at me
Oh, how fast I’ll run to the arms of my Father, the arms of my Father
Gone are the days where the shame’s overwhelming
Traded for grace at the place that You saved me
Prodigal
Imagining myself doing my own thing, apart from my Father. Trying to do my own thing my own way in my own timing. And then one day, realizing how much I can’t live without Jesus’ grace, running back to Him. And Jesus hugging me like I never left, full of mercy and grace.
Man… God is so good. We are so unworthy of this love He shows us.
So thankful.
Tia Marie
tia marie 