Give ThanksSample

Give Thanks for Relationship Restored

In 2003, Pixar Animation released a movie called Finding Nemo. It was very popular at the time of its release, and it remains popular with children and adults today. This movie tells the touching tale of Nemo, a son who goes missing, and Marlin, his loving father who stops at nothing to find him. Even the most stoic movie-watchers might find themselves a little misty-eyed when Nemo and his father finally reunite. Stories of loss and restoration are common in film and television. It’s a story we all love to see. It’s a story our hearts long for.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells a story better than Nemo’s in the parable of the prodigal son. In this parable, a young man rashly demands his inheritance from his father, leaves his home, and essentially breaks ties with his father and the life he’s known up to that point. As the story continues, the young man finds himself without money, without friends, without food, and without hope. One day, he realizes how lost he is and wonders if he should go back home. He decides to throw himself on the mercy of his father. He begs his father to allow him to be a servant in his household. He does this because he feels he’s lost the rights of a son. To his surprise, his father is overjoyed to see him return. The father doesn’t just want the young man back as a servant; he wants him back as his son. The father shows his lost son unconditional love and their relationship is restored.

The prodigal son’s story shows us something about God’s love and its power to restore. When we receive forgiveness through Christ, we aren’t just forgiven of sin, we are restored in our relationship with the Father. We go from enemies of God to children of God. Because we are forgiven, we are not spiritually homeless, nameless, or forgotten. We are no longer separated from God, lost, and without an identity. Jesus Christ has reconnected us to our eternal Father and has established us in our rightful inheritance.

Allow your identity as a child of God, through Jesus, to be a healing reality in your life. Meditate on your status as God’s child. You now belong to the entire family of God, so give thanks to Him for accepting you as His child.

Thought of the Day: God loves me. His forgiveness allows me to know Him as my Heavenly Father. Today, I will give thanks for the wonderful gift of my status as a child of God.