The Heart Of The FatherSample

His heart prays, waits, and looks for you

In another parable in Luke 15, Jesus invites us to peer into the life of a father and two sons. The bible describes the scene of the younger son approaching his father and demands his share of his inheritance. In many cases, an inheritance goes into effect after the owner dies, but in this case, this young man did not want to wait. Sometimes it is easy to sit and read these stories with a bit of a judgmental tone, but if we look closely, we can find some familiar traits in ourselves. Too often, we do not want to wait on God's appointed time for a breakthrough. We prefer to have our way rather than the right way, and we tend to think we know what is best for us; in doing so, we become rebellious to authority, join the wrong crowd, and live for temporary treasures. Well, this is precisely what this young man did; he demanded his inheritance, left the guidance, counsel, and protection of his father, and ventured into the world to live the life he thought was best for him.

As you might be able to guess, he soon got caught up with the wrong crowd, moved away from the upbringing of his father, spent all his money on the pleasures of the world, and soon found himself with nothing and no one. His life hit rock bottom, and his only resort was to find a job feeding pigs. He was homeless, and his only means of food was sharing in the pigs' food. It took him a while, but he eventually realized what he gave up in the shelter of his father's house and longed to go back. He was so desperate for help that he was willing not to go back as a son but as a slave. 

In the natural, one would reason he deserved the position of a slave if he should be allowed back at his father's house. But, here we see the heart of the Father described, "So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20 NIV).

What a scene? I believe his father continued to pray, wait, and look for his son daily. The father could not have known which day his son would come home, so he chose to live in expectation for his return. The father's reaction to his son's return was priceless. He did not reprimand or even condemn him. He did the opposite, he ran to meet him and hugged him despite the mess he had gotten into, and he called for the servants to prepare a celebration for this son that seemed so unworthy. He had his son cleaned up and gave him the best robe, a ring, and sandals. (Luke 15:21 - 24).

Today, I want you to know that our heavenly Father still prays, waits, and looks for his lost sons and daughters to come home - His heart is for you so no matter where you have been, or what you have done rest in this truth- Your Father is waiting for you to come home.