Father’s Day
We just celebrated Father’s Day. Being a father myself it makes me reflect on my 14 years of being a dad. I now have three children and it is an incredible blessing. However, it is also a challenging job that gets more difficult over time. Pondering how I could be a better father led me to a passage in the Bible, Luke 15:11-32, that describes a father with two sons. This familiar passage is often known as the parable of the prodigal son. In fact much of the story focuses on the younger son who shamed his father by demanding an early inheritance and then wasting it quickly with immoral living only to find himself literally with the pigs. However, what caught my attention the most was the father’s response when his son finally came home. It was not anger. It was not even reluctant acceptance and begrudging forgiveness . Rather the father ran to his son. He kissed him. He gave him a robe, a ring and shoes. In other words he fully restored him. This is all a picture of God’s love for us and how He is quick to not only forgive us but to fully restore us. As an earthly father I want to emulate my heavenly Father by displaying this type of love and forgiveness for my children, even when they make mistakes. As a pastor, I want to be like my heavenly Father by sharing the love of God and His wonderful grace to a hurting world, including those that like the prodigal son.
