Day 28

The prodigal son reaches a very low point in this story, in which we finally see him humbled. Right after reaching this low point he decides to return home. Today, I'd like to reflect on how the Father saw him.
I want to start by talking about what we see when we look at the prodigal son. I think that most of us to some extent feel that justice had been served. We feel like the boy got what he deserved. We have learned from Biblical principles that he reaped what he sewed. We see the son as a fool exposed, as a disappointment, a failure, and a disgrace to his father's name. We see a despicable, pitiful, careless, and sinful young man. Our sympathy for him is lacking.
I would bet that these are many of the same feelings the crowd felt when they were listening to Jesus tell this story. Surely they were all surprised to hear how the Father received his lost son with unconditional love, not only taking him back, but exalting him and restoring him as well. The simple difference between our view and the Father's is that the Father sees his child. No matter how old he gets or how far he goes from home, he will always be his father's child. This reminds me of a scene from "The Patriot" where Benjamin (Mel Gibson) is arguing with his son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger) about war. Gabriel is leaving to enlist in the military, to which his father understandably objects. Gabriel's anger and frustration spills over as he yells "I'm not a child! To which Benjamin immediately responds, "You're MY child!" No matter how old Gabriel grew to be, or how mature and ready he was to fight, he would always be his father's child.
While we see the faults and the mistakes, the Father sees a child whom he had lost come home, a son who had died come back to life. He was overjoyed just to have him back. Not yet being a parent myself, I can only look forward to fully understanding this. For now, I can only pass along the reflections other parents have given me.
A couple of weeks ago at our Wednesday night YouthQuest devo, we talked about having "Jesus Goggles" (viewing people as Jesus did). Jesus reached out to people that no one else would. He treated people with a level of compassion that was unheard of. This is simply because he viewed everyone as a child of God. People created in His own image, beloved and precious to Him. When we view others first as children of God, we eliminate whatever prejudice we may hold against them, even if it's a prejudice we hold subconsciously. If we are going to add children to the kingdom of heaven, we have to get passed the bad habit of deeming those who don't yet know the Father as "outsiders." They are sinful and in need of Christ's saving grace just like you and me. And they are beloved, precious children of God just like you and me. Let's follow Jesus by looking at others through the eyes of the Father. We won't always be a child, but we will always be his child.


Jason Creed