Tuesday, September 22, 2009

September 22, 2009

"I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you." Luke 15:18
The lost son had lost his appetite for the pleasures of the world. He had run out of money and out of luck and out of friends. He was fighting hogs for husks and still coming up hungry.
Desperate for a better option, he made a life-changing decision. He chose to get out of the pigpen and head home to the ranch. If he was going to fight with pigs for food, he may as well be fighting his father's pigs. He remembered how well his father took care of his pigs and he knew he would be better off there.
But, he could not be sure that his father would hire him back? After all, it was his idea to leave and he had blown a share of his father's fortune. Why should his father want him back?
On the long trip back, growing faint from hunger, he began to examine his plight. It is funny how clearly we can think when we are hungry and desperate. Now that his dream was shattered and his tummy was empty it was obvious to him how foolish he had been. He was hit by an attack of honesty, "I will confess my sin to my father and fall on his mercy," he thought. It was worth a try. It was his only hope.
All the way down the dusty road he rehearsed his confession and with each repitition he became more honest. And as he faced the truth about himself and his foolishness, his attitude began to change. He was ready to receive whatever the father would choose for him.
"If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9
The word "confess" in the original language means "to agree with God". What can be more honest than agreeing with the father. When we get agreeable with God, God gets generous with us.
What was it that allowed the lost son to receive the lavish love of the father when the other son did not? It had to do with his hunger and it had to do with his honesty.
Are you hungry for God today?
Are you in agreement with Him about your need?

September 21, 2009

"He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!" Luke 15:16-17
We have taken a look at some reasons why certain people were not able to receive the love of God that was available to them. The pharisees and religious leaders couldn't receive God's love because of their pride. The younger son was unable to receive love because he was on a power trip, looking to use his father's fortune to take control of his life. Finally, there was the older son who was enable to receive his father's love because he was caught in the performance track. He thought he could earn love based on what he did.
Do you recognize any of these attitudes creeping into your spiritual life? They seem to be engrained in our human nature and if we are not constantly watchful, they can become barriers to receiving the extravagant love of the father.
So, with that in mind, how do we make sure that we receive the love we need and the love that the father desires to lavish on us? Let's study that. To do that we must study the only one who was able to know the love of the father.
The first thing I notice is that he received the father's love when he was hungry enough to seek the father.
It wasn't until he was so destitute that he was forced to fight the hogs for food that he thought to do something different. It occurred to him that if he had to fight with pigs for food, he would go back home and fight with his father's pigs. So, he got up and began the long trip home. He was heading home hungry hoping for some scraps from the father's table. The days of feeding on the things of this world were over, his appetite had changed.
Jesus once said, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled." The lost son was about to discover that truth.
When you get your fill of power, pleasure, and playing at life, you may be ready to head home to the father. And when you head home with a spiritual appetite, you are a candidate for receiving his love.
He did. And he did!