Never Not in the Family

Sunday - August 29th

Scripture to Read Today: Luke 15:11-31

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While he was still a long way off, his father saw him

and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son,

threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Luke 15:20

He demanded his share of his father's estate. But, his father had not even died. He chose to go far from home, made friends, became the life of the party. He lived an immoral, rebellious life. Then, when the money ran out, the friends disappeared along with the parties. The young prodigal, far from home, ended up feeding pigs for a farmer - nothing lower for a young Jewish man.

While feeding slop to swine, he came to his senses. He decided he could go home to his father and become a servant. After all, he believed he must have lost his family status because he insulted and hurt his father. He determined to go home and confess the error of his way and accept his new servant status.

He started the long, heavy-hearted journey home. "While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). While the prodigal thought he had lost his status, his father had never seen Him as anything other than a son.

When he confessed his sin against God and his father, his gracious dad simply continued lavishing his son with kindness and love. Even after the older brother who never left home complained, the father continued to see his younger son as family.

When we sin as God's children, like the prodigal, we can feel like we no longer have family status. But, our Heavenly Father continues to shower us with his love, grace, and forgiveness. He meets us before we even can utter our confession. But, when we do confess, the Lord continues being faithful and just in forgiving and cleansing us from our sin. We realize when we felt unworthy of being in God's family, He never thought about changing our status. We were never not in the family!

Nothing you can ever do will ever remove you from your Heavenly Father's family - you're safe in His grace!