Family, Faith & Forgiveness A GOODBYE, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN PlanSample

Day 1 - Family Can Be Complicated

Everybody loves a happily-ever-after ending, right? It's so much more satisfying when things are tied up with a nice bow! In our movies, the bad guy always gets his comeuppance in the end, and the shy, cute girl eventually ends up with the cute, single guy.

Too bad life can't be that way. Things don't always end neatly and happily. All too often, complications arise . But that doesn't stop us from trying to manufacture the happily-ever-after end - even where there is none. We even do it with our Bible stories!

Take for example, " The Prodigal Son." We all know the story, right? Or do we?

When it is preached in church, it's usually cited as an example of God's generous and forgiving heart to his children.  When, in verse 24 the wayward son comes back home and is celebrated, we wrap it up and declare the story done. The End!

Except the story doesn't end at Verse 24. 

Six verses follow, depicting the "good son's" outrage that his profligate brother would be welcomed back into the family - not just without punishment, but with a party. Jesus parable doesn't really even end with Verse 31, because the conclusion of the story is just the beginning of what seems will be a long, messy road for the family. We're left to wonder at the open and unresolved issues between the three men.

That's why a close reading of the Bible is so important. When we take the time to study Scripture, we discover it doesn't sugarcoat challenging realities the way we human are prone to do. All the messiness of what it means to live a life in service to God is contained in the Bible.

Similarly, that honest messiness is depicted with sensitivity and insight in GOODBYE, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. What the Milnes learn is what we can only assume the prodigal's family also learned, that prayer and loving patience conquers a multitude of sins.( 1 Peter 4:8).