Apicontent

“But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him, but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” —Luke 15:28–32

It appears that the “perfect” son at this point in the story had a similar problem to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law of Jesus’ day. They were simply unhappy offering mercy or having someone share in their “kingdom.” Lacking in mercy and selfishly motivated, they were stomping their feet at the inclusion of the repentant. “It’s not fair!” they cried out. What they didn’t realize is that life is not fair! How “unfair” it was for Jesus, who being in very nature God, left His heavenly home to come down to earth, just to live a perfect life and die an excruciating death on the cross. Talk about unfair!

The older brother here is just like Jonah who also was displeased with God’s mercy towards the lost. It was Jonah’s desire for the Ninevites to be wiped away. God had sent him to deliver a message of destruction, and yet God gave them mercy. The Ninevites had been very cruel to the Israelites, and Jonah personally wanted to see their destruction. He wanted to be spared from calamity, but he did not want the Ninevites to be kept from disaster. Jonah, like the older brother, was an object of God’s compassion yet displayed no compassion for those he believed to be unworthy—even when they truly were repentant:

“This displeased Jonah terribly and he became very angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Oh, LORD, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish!—because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. So now, LORD, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!’ The LORD said, ‘Are you really so very angry?’” —Jonah 4:1–4

As the parable of the lost son comes to a conclusion, we find an unavoidable, urgent, need to celebrate—the rebel returns repentant and there is a great reason for rejoicing! Paul tells us:

“Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.” —Philippians 2:1–4

The Father pleads with the older son to be glad over the return of his lost but now found brother. Yet the older son could not justify in his own mind the mercy his Father was now lavishing on his once wayward brother. How like human nature for us to keep score of our works and to grumble when one who has done less receives more. The older brother was resentful, believing his works outweighed those of his brother’s all the while never realizing how his own actions were weighed and found wanting as well.

Become More

Mercy, we all need it and we all desire to receive it. Yet many find, like the older brother, it is a very difficult blessing to give.

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. And have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating even the clothes stained by the flesh.” —Jude 1:20–23

“Can the elder son in me come home? Can I be found as the younger son was found? How can I return when I am lost in resentment, when I am caught in jealousy, when I am imprisoned in obedience and duty lived out as slavery? It is clear that alone, by myself, I cannot find myself. More daunting than healing myself as the younger son, is healing myself as the elder son. Confronted here with the impossibility of self redemption, I now understand Jesus’ words to Nicodemus: ‘Do not be surprised when I say; ‘You must be born from above.’’ Indeed, something has to happen that I myself cannot cause to happen. I cannot be reborn from below; that is, with my own strength, with my own mind with my own psychological insights … I can only be healed from above, from where God reaches down. What is impossible for me is possible for God. ‘With God, everything is possible,’” — Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal

Further Reflections

“You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!” —Philippians 2:5–8

“Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the Prodigal Son who had fallen most low could still be saved.” —Søren Kierkegaard

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.” —Romans 11:33–36

“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.” —Luke 15:20–24

Mercy, compassion, and love always await those returning to our heavenly Father! In this story, the father searches the horizon for that tiny speck in the distance indicating the return of the lost son—and then he runs to him. I believe this is the only time in Scripture that we have an illustration of God running. How precious that it is towards the returning, wayward child. Indeed, he rose and ran to meet the returning rebel!

I am reminded of several verses in Scripture:

“For this reason the LORD is ready to show you mercy; he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. Indeed, the LORD is a just God; all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.” —Isaiah 30:18

“He sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit—O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.” —Psalm 51:17

“The LORD is compassionate and merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love. He does not always accuse, and does not stay angry. He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. For as the skies are high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers. As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on his faithful followers.” —Psalm 103:8–13

In our verses for today, lavish grace, along with loving forgiveness, mixed with pure joy is displayed by the father who anxiously waits to give his lost son a new life. Just like our heavenly Father waits to give us new life! Jesus tells us:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” —John 10:10

Our cause for joy always rests in our personal relationship with God the Father through Jesus, His Son. We are children of the King through our faith in Christ! Our names are written in heaven. We are His beloved and are His forever.

“From God’s perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from His throne to run to His returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy.” —Henri J. M. Nouwen

Throughout the Gospels, we see that Jesus loved celebrations with feasting and laughter. In this parable we find the father throwing a huge party to celebrate the homecoming of his son. God is a gracious Host providing over-the-top hospitality. Nouwen adds:

“I realize that I am not used to the image of God throwing a big party. It seems to contradict the solemnity and seriousness I have always attached to God. But when I think about the ways in which Jesus describes God’s Kingdom, a joyful banquet is often at its center. Jesus says, ‘Many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.’”

I am reminded of the prophet Isaiah’s words:

“The LORD of Heaven’s Armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine—tender meat and choicest wine.” —Isaiah 25:6

I don’t believe heaven’s banquet will be a place for plain grilled chicken or butterless biscuits! I think it will be divine dining like we have never experienced dining before. Laughter and joy filling the banquet hall with our Host providing what we are unable to even conceive of as yet. We know not of what awaits us!

Become More

“Because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” —2 Corinthians 4:18

Further Reflection

“He who made man can restore man; He who was at first the Creator of our nature can new create it. If He be God, there can be no limit to His power. Come then with the blind eye of darkened understanding, come with the maimed hand of weak faith, the fever of an angry temper, or the ague of shivering despondency, come just as thou art, for He who is God can certainly restore thee of thy plague. None shall restrain the healing virtue which proceeds from Jesus our Lord.” —C.H. Spurgeon

“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food enough to spare, but here “I am dying from hunger! I will get up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’” —Luke 15:17–19

The son is finally beginning to understand! The sense is certainly a welcomed player on the scene. Sometimes our conditions are so desperate that the only direction for us to look is up—and lookup is exactly what the son does.

God always listens to the cry of those in need. The Bible tells us:

“When he responds to the prayer of the destitute, and does not reject their request.” —Psalm 102:17

However, when we are totally full of ourselves, God, like the Father in this story, has the wisdom to show restraint. I am certain the father in this story could have sent his servants with food to fill his son’s growling stomach, but what good would that have done? Certainly, the father would have ended up with a satisfied, but foolish, and perpetually discontented offspring!

God is waiting for us to return to Him. It is the repentant heart that He always welcomes:

“The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit—O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.” —Psalm 51:17

God desires for us to be totally spent of ourselves, in order that we may have room to be filled with His glory through the precious Holy Spirit!

The more there is of us, the less there is of Him. This is not a good thing! In needs to be the other way around! John the Baptist says it so precisely:

“He must become more important while I become less important.” —John 3:30

This is the divine order of things, and it is also the order that is so glorious for us. Like the lost son, we are certainly the big losers when we choose our own way over God’s. Sadly, it seems that we constantly have to repeat the learning of this difficult lesson. The son is now empty, and it is specifically at his moment that he is ready to be reunited with his father. There is a wonderful verse in Jeremiah that speaks so sweetly regarding repentance—which is exactly what this young man is going to do next—turn back to the Father:

“Because of this, the LORD said, ‘You must repent of such words and thoughts! If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me.’” — Jeremiah 15:19

What is so amazing about this verse is that repent and restore are the same words in Hebrew, meaning to turn back, to turn around, to return; it essentially denotes the movement back to the point of departure. God has not moved away from us, we have moved from Him. What I find to be such a wonderful blessing in the verse from Jeremiah is that if I willingly turn to Him, He will willingly bring me home.

Become More

“I have asked you to give, in order that I may bless you more. I have challenged you to pray, so that I may respond and help you. I have asked you to rejoice, in order to keep you from being swallowed up by anxieties. I have asked you to be humble, to protect you from the calamities that fall upon the proud. I have asked you to forgive, in order to make your heart fit to receive My forgiveness. I have asked you not to love the world, for I would have you released from unnecessary entanglements, free to follow Me. Holiness is not a feeling—it is the end product of obedience. Purity is not a gift—it is the result of repentance and serious pursuit of God.” —Frances J. Roberts

Further Reflection

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” —2 Corinthians 3:17–18

“So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” —Luke 15:15–16

Have you ever been in a situation where “no one gave [you] anything”? A helping hand would have been nice, or perhaps an encouraging word, or even a look of affirmation. Scared, needy, frightened—and the world just keeps passing by. Not a very fun place to find oneself, particularly if the miseries we are encountering are directly related to our own choices and bad decisions. Selfishness and a lack of good judgment fuel for the fire for difficult situations we find ourselves in. But … God gives us the following hope through the promises in His Word!

“Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?’” —Hebrews 13:5–6

“No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them.” —Joshua 1:5–6

“I was once young, now I am old. I have never seen a godly man abandoned, or his children forced to search for food. All day long he shows compassion and lends to others, and his children are blessed.”—Psalm 37:25–26

The riches of God’s grace and mercies are of unspeakable value to the sinner in terrible circumstances. When we come face to face with our own foolishness and weakness, God’s grace and mercy are held out to us.

However, just as God allows for those who pursue holiness and righteousness to experience a taste of heaven on earth through the enjoyment of walking with Him and growing in the knowledge of Him, in love, He also allows those who choose to pursue evil and destruction to experience a taste of hell with the desire for them to turn back to Him. 

Matthew Henry writes:

“A sinful state is a state of departure and distance from God. It is the sinfulness of sin that it is an apostasy from God. He set off from his father’s house. Sinners are fled from God. They get as far off him as they can. The world is the distant country in which they take up their residence. It is the misery of sinners that they are far off from God, and are going further and further from him. What is hell itself, but being far off from God?”

The total absence of goodness, the total lack of light, a state of perpetual dissatisfaction; all apt descriptions of hell. We find in Matthew:

“As the poisonous weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears had better listen!” —Matthew 13:40–43

God has no desire for any to perish but all to come to repentance. Peter tells us:

“Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” —2 Peter 3:8–9

Become More

“He who yields a point or two to the world is in fearful peril; he who eats the grapes of Sodom will soon drink the wine of Gomorrah. Worldly conformity, in any degree, is a snare to the soul, and makes it more and more liable to presumptuous sins. Careful walking may involve much self-denial, but it has pleasures of its own which are more than a sufficient recompense.” —C. H. Spurgeon

God is waiting for you to turn back to Him!

Further Reflection

“How sweet the remembrance that inexhaustible mercy is waiting to be gracious to us, to restore our backslidings, and make our broken bones rejoice!” —C. H. Spurgeon

“Then Jesus said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.” So he divided his assets between them. After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle. Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need.’” —Luke 15:11–14

Jesus begins this familiar story of the lost son by setting the scene for a display of God’s immeasurable grace. The lost son represents the tax collectors and “sinners”—and ultimately, each one of us! At the beginning of this story, the son arrogantly demands from his father: “Give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.” Isn’t that so like us! We want what we want—and we want it now!

Matthew Henry observes:

“The great folly of sinners is being content to have their share in hand, now in this lifetime to receive their good things. They look only to the things that are seen, and covet only a present enjoyment, but have no care for future happiness.”

I am reminded of the words in Proverbs:

“Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches, feed me with my allotted portion of bread, lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God.” —Proverbs 30:8–9

While riches and material goods are not in themselves intrinsically bad, the love of them will surely lead us astray. Paul’s words to Timothy describe this situation perfectly:

“Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.” —1 Timothy 6:9–10

The son takes his inheritance and proceeds to waste it on riotous living, leaving him destitute and in desperate need when famine falls on the land. Now this young man is in big trouble! He has put his focus on the wrong things and it has led him to a desperate place.

As believers, we are to be kingdom seekers displaying a life of daily faith. Unfortunately, many refuse to be bound to God’s authority, but like the lost son, bind themselves to the things of this world.

Isn’t it sad that it often takes difficult circumstances for God to get our focus back on Him? Jesus tells us:

“So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” —Matthew 6:31–33

Become More

“It is natural for us to wish and to plan, and it is merciful of the Lord to disappoint our plans and to cross our wishes. For we cannot be safe or happy until we are weaned from our own wills and made simply desirous of being directed by His guidance. Although we understand this we seldom learn to put it into practice without being trained for a while in the school of disappointment. The schemes we form look so plausible and convenient that when they are broken we are ready to say, ‘What a pity!’ We try again, and with no better success; we are grieved, and perhaps angry, and plan another, and so on; eventually, in the course of time, experience and observation begin to convince us that we are no more able than we are worthy to choose correctly for ourselves. The Lord’s invitation to cast our cares upon Him, and His promise to take care of us, appear valuable; and when we have done planning, His plan in our favor gradually opens, and He does more and better for us than we could either ask or think. I can hardly recollect a single plan of mine, which if it had taken place in the time and the way I wanted would, humanly speaking, have proved my ruin; or at least would have deprived me of the greater good the Lord had designed for me. We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences. If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.” —John Newton

Further Reflections

“It is our self-importance, not our misery, which gets in His way.” —Daniel Considine

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. We are far too easily pleased.” —C.S. Lewis

“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in one.” —A.W. Tozer

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” —Luke 15:8–10

Consider for a moment losing something extremely valuable to you. Would you not search high and low until finding it—giving yourself no rest and having no peace of mind until it was discovered? Recounting every step you took when you knew it was in your possession? Perhaps recalling to mind with fondness and joy the past when everything was in its “proper place”? Constantly reminding yourself of where you could have possibly placed this cherished item?

This is the illustration Jesus gives of a Father full of compassion and love toward His wayward child. It is a glorious picture of our heavenly “Daddy” and His angels welcoming a wayward child. Our Father is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger, and abounding in great love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve but desires for us to be in constant fellowship and relationship with Him. When we are in sin, that relationship is broken.

Scripture confirms God’s great love for us:

“In a far-off land the LORD will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.” —Jeremiah 31:3

“I led them with leather cords, with leather ropes; I lifted the yoke from their neck, and gently fed them.” —Hosea 11:4

“They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them.” —Nehemiah 9:17

Matthew Henry explains this parable in this way:

“That which is lost is a piece of silver. The soul is silver, of intrinsic worth and value; not base metal, as iron or lead, but silver. It is a silver coin. It is stamped with God’s portrait and superscription. This silver was lost in the dirt; a soul plunged in the world is like a piece of money in the dirt; anyone would say, ‘It is a thousand pities that it should lie there.’”

Become More

“God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who He is.” —Anonymous

“I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” —John Newton

Further Reflections

“I love the LORD because he heard my plea for mercy, and listened to me. As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help.” —Psalm 116:1–2

“We forget that God is a specialist; He is well able to work our failures into His plans.” —Erwin Lutzer

“Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.” —Luke 15:5–7

God takes great pleasure in the repenting and returning of the wandering!

“Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” —2 Peter 3:8–9

Jesus’ rejoicing over the lost sheep that is found certainly shows us a heavenly perspective! Repentance, the lost one coming home, always brings a smile to God’s face and starts the angels singing! Great rejoicing abounds in heaven when the children of God finally “get it”! We are so earthbound in our thought processes. We rarely think eternally. But one day our partial reflection will give way to perfect vision. If we only truly understood what we are saved for and from, we would be rejoicing over the returning of the repentant.

“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” —John 3:16–18

Our verses today describe what occurs in heaven when a lost sheep is found. Basically, rejoicing abounds! The lost sheep repents, it wants to come home! Specifically, repentance is “to undergo a moral reorientation of the soul,” according to the New Testament Lexical Aids of the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. It goes on to explain:

“This reorientation acknowledges the error of one’s ways and turns them towards the divinely prescribed way of truth and righteousness. In terms of salvation (or conversion), repentance denotes a turning away from unbelief, mistrust, and rebellion against God and toward complete reliance upon His forgiveness and favor on account of Christ. Although repentance can be attended by and expressed through sorrow or contrition, it is fundamentally tied to the mind or heart and not the emotions.”

Become More

We simply cannot trust our emotions—they ebb and flow like the waves of the sea. If we are basing our belief on this tossing and turning, we are certain to be unstable in our ways. When we allow our emotions to control us, we vacillate over trusting in God’s provision and turning to our own fears and anxieties.

Trust in the truth of God’s Word. He is looking for the lost sheep … and rejoices when He finds it!

Further Reflection

“‘The supreme happiness of life,’ Victor Hugo said, ‘is the conviction on that we are loved’… Unfortunately, many people go through life feeling unloved–and unlovable … No matter the reason, your feelings aren’t telling you the truth! God loves you, and if you begin to see yourself the way God sees you, your attitudes will begin to change. If He didn’t love you, would Christ have been willing to die for you? But He did! The Bible says, ‘By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us’ (1 John 3:16). God loves you. Hammer that truth into your head and mind every day. It will make all the difference.” —Billy Graham

“So Jesus told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it?’” —Luke 15:3–4

Jesus came to save. Of all the different religions in this world, Christianity is the only one where God comes down to humankind—seeking us at our own level. Think about Adam and Eve right after their sin in the Garden of Eden. Prior to their disobedience, they had the unique experience of literally walking with God—totally naked, yet not ashamed. Then sin comes into the world, and they hide from God:

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” —Genesis 3:8–9

God is still seeking after us today!

Jesus demonstrates God’s seeking with Zacchaeus a bit later in Luke:

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’” —Luke 19:9–10

What mercy the Father bestows upon His lost sheep! Charles Spurgeon suggests that we “meditate for a moment on the mercy of God.” When we take time to meditate on God’s mercy we discover:

• God’s mercy is tender: With gentle, loving touch, He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy as in the matter of it.
• God’s mercy is great: There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself—it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favors and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
• God’s mercy is undeserved: As indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner’s part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself.
• God’s mercy is overflowing: Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart.
• God’s mercy is unending: As Bunyan says, ‘All the flowers in God’s garden are double’. There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies.
• God’s mercy is unbounded: Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted, it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever.
• God’s mercy is unfailing: It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend, mercy will be with thee in temptations to keep thee from yielding; with thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.

Become More

“But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: The LORD’S loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! ‘My portion is the LORD,’ I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him.” —Lamentations 3:21–24

Further Reflection

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” —Matthew 11:28–30

“So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled. For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’” —Luke 14:21–24

I am reminded of the promises recorded in the book of Isaiah:

“Strengthen the hands that have gone limp, steady the knees that shake! Tell those who panic, ‘Be strong! Do not fear! Look, your God comes to avenge! With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.’ Then blind eyes will open, deaf ears will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, the mute tongue will shout for joy; for water will burst forth in the wilderness, streams in the arid rift valley.” —Isaiah 35:3–6

Jesus demonstrated again and again that His ministry was directed toward those who realized they had a desperate need for Him. He specifically said:

“Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” —Matthew 9:12–13

And this presents an important question: Do you and I realize that each one of us has a need? 

The Pharisees did not think that they were sinners so consequently they felt no need for a Savior. When one is filled with self-sufficiency and self-righteousness, the sufficiency and righteousness of a Savior is the furthest thing from their mind. The Laodiceans experienced this very thing:

“Because you say, ‘I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,’ but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, take my advice and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed, and buy eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see!” —Revelation 3:17–18

The Laodiceans were wealthy with possessions! And yet, clad in expensive and beautiful clothing, dripping in gold, they were oblivious to their need for clothes of righteousness to cover their nakedness and for God’s salve to open their spiritually blind eyes. Unaware of their own depravity, they needed a wake-up call!

“The LORD your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver. He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you.” —Zephaniah 3:17

The Bible Knowledge Commentary has this to say about our verses for today:

“The people who originally had been offered a share of the kingdom had rejected it, so now the message was going out to others including Gentiles. The excuses seemed good to those who gave them, but they were inadequate for refusing Jesus’ kingdom offer. Nothing was so important as accepting His offer of the kingdom, for one’s entire destiny rests on his response to that offer.”

God gives us many wake-up calls and warnings through His Word, through His people, and through the circumstances that He allows in and around our lives orchestrated to turn our hearts back to Him. Patiently, lovingly and mercifully He waits for us to come.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Revelation:

“All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent! Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me.” —Revelation 3:19–20

Become More

“God hovers over the entire world, seeking to pluck from sin immortal souls who are in danger of ‘drowning’ in hell. He tosses out a line to all those who are in trouble. Some grab on to God’s line and freely receive the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ … But others ignore the line, or even knock it away, believing they are not really in peril, or that they can make it to safety on their own. Tragically, they are lost not because God has rejected them, but because they have rejected God. Don’t make the wrong choice!” —Billy Graham

Further Reflections

“I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” —John Newton

“In the gospel we discover that we are far more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet more loved than we ever dared hope.” —Tim Keller

“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’” —Luke 14:16–20

Scripture makes it clear—all are invited! Unfortunately, few choose to come. And here we have two difficult doctrines—predestination and free will—living side by side. God’s foreknowledge and man’s responsibility both presented clearly. To deny either doctrine is to not hold to the truth of all of Scripture. The Bible tells us:

“For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will.” —Ephesians 1:4–5

At the same time, the Bible also makes it clear that Jesus died for all and that the invitation to believe in Him and be saved is extended to all. We are held responsible for either our acceptance or rejection of Christ:

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.” — John 3:36

In our story today Jesus is describing His people, the Jews, who are simply too preoccupied to accept the invitation of the Master of the banquet. Their excuses appear legitimate—a field bought, oxen purchased, and a marriage. And yet these concerns are inconsequential in light of eternity. How often we make similar excuses for not following the call of Jesus. The still small voice that keeps calling out to us we often quiet with busyness and distraction. We are so preoccupied with our responsibilities that we neglect our Savior. The “tyranny of the urgent” creeps in. Before you know it, we have wasted a lifetime!

Become More

In the little two-page book of Haggai God says no less than five times: “Think carefully about what you are doing.” In the very first chapter, He begins with:

“Here then, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.’” —Haggai 1:5–6

The people’s activities are proving fruitless and unsatisfying. Going about business as usual with no consideration or preeminence to God and their relationship with Him, the Israelites give us insight into our own times. How much fruitlessness and dissatisfaction are you experiencing? God’s warning turned the people back to Him. Lovingly, He disciplined them for their good. He does the same with us.

Further Reflection

“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16