Both sons had beliefs about their father and in turn lived out those beliefs. The Prodigal believed his actions and disobedience separated him from his father. The older son believed his performance and obedience should grant him special favor with the father. So one son ran away believe he could never measure up and one refused the father’s love because he believe he had earned better than his brother.
Each of them had false ideas about the fathers love and it was played out in their stories. And just like them, we too have false beliefs about God’s love for us. We are busy living out a wayward narrative. What the sons needed and what we need is a new perspective. We need a new beginning in our relationship to the Father. This is only possible if we come to a place where our belief about how God will treat us falls apart and we experience the Father running to us when we least expect it.
Once we experience a Father who loves us exactly where we are, and does not love us any less when we feel unworthy, we can begin to live differently with others. We can begin to share about our Father and how amazing His love is and how it has changed our life. You can just imaging the prodigal telling others about his father running to him when he was filthy and in despair and how welcomed and accepted he felt.
That would just be natural to share what you had experienced. Having an experience of the Father’s love to tell others about would change how you relate to others. That is the start of a new narrative or story in your life that will never get old.
Have you ever felt the Father’s love as strongly as the prodigal did?
Are you open to experience His love and acceptance in a way that will give you a new story to share?
Day 7 of 7 from the 2017 Mission Discovery Devotional
