When I read the story of the lost son in Luke 15 (Luke 15:11-32), the overwhelming joy displayed by the father reminds me of my grandmother. My fondest memories of my grandmother include the times we would go to visit her when I was a child. As I climbed the huge, concrete steps that led to the wooden front porch, the door would swing open and my grandmother would stand there holding the screen door open for us. Her face would be beaming and I couldn't get through the front door without her hugging me tightly. She was laughing, smiling, and truly delighted to see me and my siblings. An outsider would have thought my grandmother didn't get to see her grandchildren much, but that wasn't true; we lived relatively close to her. She was overjoyed every time she saw us. She just loved us that much.

To me, God's full love and grace is just like my grandmother's hug. No matter what I do, His grace and forgiveness are there for me. When I ask Him for forgiveness, He is overjoyed, glad to see one of His children back again.

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Luke 15:1-3

Do you ever think like one of the Pharisees.....you're a good Christian, you follow the rules, know how to act, what to ask God for, etc.? Only to have God humble you. Occasionally, I'll get "holy" and think I've got it all together and end up convicted through the Holy Spirit about my attitude or judgmental views.

This leads me to the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-32. I tend to repeat my sinful ways and realize how God is waiting. He is such a loving and forgiving Father; he patiently watches me try to get my act together and loves me even when I can't or choose not to. I may have consequences due to my repetitious sin(s) or stubborn "do it my way" attitude, but his love and security are always there.......just waiting on me.

Can you also relate to the older brother in the prodigal son story? I know I can. I often find myself thinking, "I follow the rules, pray, read my Bible...... but I don't have what he/she has". I guess keeping score with others is human nature, but God wants each of us to live according to His commandments and lift each other up. Try to encourage one another, get excited when a lost sheep finds salvation or a "backslider" returns to the straight and narrow path; avoid being jealous and judgmental. Read Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-15 and James 3:13-18 when you have a minute and focus on truly being brothers and sisters in Christ.

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Read Luke 15:11-32

Many of us are familiar with the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is the story of a man's youngest son who takes his inheritance, runs away and squanders his money. In so doing, he learns a valuable lesson and returns to his father. His father can reject him but he does not. Because of his love for his son he accepts him and throws a feast in celebration of his return even though his son's actions hurt him. The father forgives him.

However, in verse 28 we are introduced to the father's oldest son. He is confused and angry at his father's actions, "Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!" (29-30.)

Aren't we often guilty of feeling like the older brother? Don't we sometimes say, "I've been here working steadily all this time and my actions are ignored, but my brother makes terrible choices and his actions are rewarded." It can be easy to feel this way, especially when you work diligently but in feeling this way we are missing the bigger picture.

It is wrong to say, "my actions are ignored," because they are not ignored at all. In verse 31 the father tells the oldest son, "you are always with me, and everything I have is yours." If we feel bad about someone else's party then we are purposely ignoring our own reward, which is the continual time we have spent with God.

When we feel this way, we must ask ourselves, "Which do I want more: to spend everyday growing closer to God or party hats and confetti?" When we put our feelings into perspective it is much easier to celebrate along with the younger son. After all, who knows better what he will gain in his future with God than those of us who have spent many years with God already?

The parable doesn't tell us what the older brother does after his father speaks to him. I think that is intentional. It's a hint that the choice is ours to make.

Write your own ending to the parable this week. Place yourself in the older brother's shoes and commit your spirit to celebrate.

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This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found! (Luke 15:32 MSG)

Grace. We sing about it in church and say "grace" before meals, but we don't think about what it really means. Grace can be defined as freely given, unmerited favor and love. The very essence of grace is that we don't deserve it. It is not given out of anything but love and generosity.

This is incomprehensible to us. In our culture, nothing comes to us freely, and we simply can't grasp the concept of someone being so willing to give something to use that we so clearly and so simply do not deserve. The grace of God is not something we can easily understand. Even once we see that God is good and that He loves us beyond our imagination, we think we have something to owe Him. Because of where we have come from, we think we surely must make it up to Him somehow. If He is going to love us that much and give us so much, how can we ever make it up to Him when we have done so many things wrong?

Those were the thoughts of the lost son in Jesus' story. He was certain that if his father would even take him back, it would only be as a servant. He had squandered all that he had given him, and he had essentially told his father that he might as well be dead to him. After such horrible disrespect and blatant contempt, the son was sure that he would have difficult conditions placed on his returning home to his father.

What the son didn't count on, though, was the grace of his loving father. He didn't think his father would be happy to see him, much less be willing to hug and kiss him and hold such an extravagant celebration. We, too, don't count on the grace of our loving Father. We come to him prepared with excuses and explanations and conditions, and He comes to us with nothing more than open arms. We recall all that has happened and how badly we messed things up, and keep trying to tell Him why He should be angry with us. He knows we have hurt ourselves and He remembers that we hurt Him, but with us back in His arms, none of that matters any more. He's just glad we finally made it home.

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