Part 4 of 7 in Jesus Christ, The Man Who Walked Toward Us
A young man stood at his father’s table and said words that cut deeper than any blade: “Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me” (Luke 15:12). In that culture it was like saying he wished his father were dead. And the father, without a word of argument, divided his living between his sons.
The Far Country
Soon the son was in a distant land, wasting his substance with riotous living (Luke 15:13). When famine struck, he took the lowest job he could find, feeding pigs, and he “would fain have filled his belly with the husks” (Luke 15:16). Then Scripture says, “And when he came to himself” (Luke 15:17). That’s the turning point. He remembered he had a father.
The Father Who Ran
He rehearsed his speech all the way home. But look at what happened first: “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
In that culture a respected older man did not run. He would have to hike up his robe in front of the whole village. This father did it anyway. Love moves faster than dignity. Before the son could finish his apology, the father called for the best robe, a ring and sandals, and a feast for the whole house (Luke 15:22-23).
Jesus told this story to show us what His Father is like. Psalm 103:13 says, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.”
The Son Who Stayed
The older brother stood outside the party, angry. “Lo, these many years do I serve thee,” he said (Luke 15:29). He had been home the whole time, yet he had never understood his father’s heart. He saw himself as a servant, not a son. The father’s reply is tender: “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine” (Luke 15:31).
Some of us ran away. Some of us stayed and worked ourselves tired. Both of us need the same thing, a Father’s embrace.
Breaking the Cycle
Many men grew up with a father who was absent, harsh or silent. We’re afraid of repeating it. Malachi 4:6 promises that God will turn “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” Romans 8:15 says we’ve received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba, Father.” You can be healed as a son so you can lead as a father. Ephesians 6:4 calls fathers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It all starts with receiving, not performing.
Take It With You This Week
Speak a blessing over your children, or over a young man who has no father near. Tell him you’re proud of him and that he belongs. Then bring your own wound to your Father in heaven and tell Him what you’ve never told anyone.
Prayer: Abba Father, I come home. Heal the places where I was never held or blessed. Teach me to love my children the way You love me. Let the cycle end with me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.