The Loving Father
The Father desires that all people of His family return to Him.
“Let my people go, that they may serve me...indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth...The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field...Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked."
Exodus 9:1, 6, 9, 16-17, 19, 27, 30
Pharaoh would not listen to God and suffered greatly. Through the suffering even Pharaoh had to acknowledge how sinful he was compared to God's standards. What if the lens in which we evaluated our choices was whether what we chose was serving God and giving glory to His name? How would that change the way we live?
“My God will go before me with his loving kindness...I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning."
Psalms 59:10, 12, 16
David could focus on the enemies around him. The people who were conspiring against him or lying about him. What did he focus on? How God was moving. How great the power and loving kindness of God was to him personally. How would you describe where you are in life? Would you speak of what is wrong or what you fear could be wrong in your life or where God is good?
“Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight...Honor Yahweh with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase...My son, don’t despise Yahweh’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction; for whom Yahweh loves, he corrects, even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.”
Proverbs 3:5-7, 9-12
What would happen if every child listened to their parents and thanked them when they were corrected? It would be shocking and to their benefit. The one who has your best interest above all others is the God who made you. Spiritual maturity comes when you can praise God when He comforts and when He corrects you. Do you trust God with all your heart? Where have you been leaning on your own understanding? Does God have full editorial control to correct you for your benefit?
“They don’t know the way of peace; and there is no justice in their ways. They have made crooked paths for themselves; whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace ...Yahweh saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor"
Isaiah 59:8, 15-17, 20-21
God wants to lead us to a life of peace in our hearts and to use us to be makers of peace. What does Isaiah say God expects of His people? An awareness of how your prayers or intercessions can help those around you. The people who are going the wrong way need people in their lives who do not give up on them and continue to pray for breakthrough. What can we pray? Pray that the addiction stops, the sin ceases, the false flees, and the truth of God's redeeming love rules the hearts of all mankind. Who are you praying for? How are you interceding for others?
“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing...I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance...The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ So he divided his livelihood between them. Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living...Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son...while he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate"
Luke 15:4-7, 12-24, 31-32
The story is often told as the story of the prodigal son. It should be called the loving Father. Jesus is telling of a Father whose unconditional love simply measures whether the member of His family is with Him or not. He does not focus on the son's failures, the wasted fortune, or familial shame that the son's actions would carry. He just wants to see the lost son come home.
How does this story resonate with you? How has God's grace transformed your life and how has it changed how you see the loving Father? Jesus teaches of a love so unchanging that it cannot help but change us. Embrace the love of the Father and see His heart towards you today. You are loved as you are, where you are, because of who you are to God.