W1D5 God's Way

READ THE BIBLE

Luke 15: 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back 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; make me like one of your hired servants."’ 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.

The 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 servants: ‘Quick! 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’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

REFLECT ON WHAT IT MEANS

One morning in 1888, Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, awoke to some shocking news. As he read the morning newspaper he found, to his horror, an article about his death!

The story went on to describe his life and how he would be remembered as the ‘Merchant of Death’ for his terrible invention. Alfred was shocked for two reasons, 1) he obviously was not dead, so why were the papers saying that he was? And, 2) He saw what people really thought about him and it really upset him. Even though he had invented dynamite, he was—at heart—a man of peace, who wanted to bring peace and understanding between people, not war and conflict. (It turned out that it was his brother who had died but the papers got the wrong Mr. Nobel!) In response to this realisation of how he was really seen by everyone, Nobel decided to do his best to change all of this, and so he set up his famous 5 “Nobel Peace Prizes,” to help promote peace in the world.

Today’s Bible reading is the second part of our “Two Sons” story and also contains deeply disturbing and shocking news for the young man who has gone off from home.

Shock number 1: “When he came to his senses,” or, “came to himself.” He suddenly saw his life for how much trouble he was in. Instead of kidding himself that it wasn’t so bad, he suddenly saw just how bad it all was. When he “came to himself,” he saw it for what it looked like to his dad, to his family, to God, and even to himself. And it was bad; worse than he wanted to admit, but he faced up to it, all the same. (Like Alfred Nobel had to.)

Shock number 2: A good shock—he realised there was something he could do, if he could just overcome his pride and fear. He could go back to his father and be honest about the mess he had made of things. He could then, at least, become a servant, and anything would be better than this place. ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Shock number 3: Another good shock—the father takes him back again, not as a servant but as his son. No-one in that society would ever have expected that! A child that did what he had done was not fit to come home and you would be expected to disown them and send them away. If not, they would bring shame and disgrace upon the whole family by their terrible behaviour. Yet, this father takes him back as a son. His life changed from that moment onward and he become known for other, better things, (again, like Alfred Nobel).

God is this kind of father, who takes us back again when we truly come to our senses, see who we are, see who God is and what our life looks like before him: ‘Father, I have sinned…’

It was a shocking realisation for Alfred Nobel to open the newspaper and read about himself in this way. It’s a shocking realisation for us too, when we “come to our senses” about how we truly are before God. But if we can see it and accept it, it will start us on the road home towards God our father. We will be shocked again also at the amazing, loving and enthusiastic welcome we will receive from God when we come back to him. The son learned from his mistakes and so can we.

RELATE IT TO YOUR LIFE

What mistakes do you think the son that came back made towards God and his family? Can you identify with any of those? Have you had this experience, like the son, when he ‘came to himself,’ and realised how God saw him? What do you need to be forgiven for and what do you need to forgive others for?

RESPOND WITH A DECLARATION

“I can learn from my mistakes. God will forgive me and welcome me home even with all of my mistakes.”