But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” Luke 15:17 (NKJV)
Yesterday we talked about the story of the prodigal son, as found in Luke 15:11-32. Today I’d like to point out a few things about this story that help us to understand the heart of God.
First of all, I want you to notice that this story is talking about a son who has left his father. It’s not a story about the lost–it’s a story about believers who wander away from their faith. The take-away is that God is always ready and waiting to welcome us back.
The second thing I want you to notice is that the father didn’t orchestrate the famine that hit the land to make his son turn back to him. Often we think that God sends tragedy our way to make us turn back to Him, but that’s not true. He’s just waiting and watching, ready to embrace us when we do decide to turn back.
A third thing to notice in this story is that misbeliefs about the father were at the root of all the trouble. When verse 17 says that the son finally came to himself, it shows that he had an incorrect way of thinking about his father, and it was this misbelief that caused him so much heartache and shame. If we would just realize how good, how forgiving, and how loving our Father God is, we would save ourselves a lot of pain.
In fact, we would never stop serving God in the first place if we realized His heart for us and how incredible of a Father He truly is!
Get encouraging devotions from Leon Fontaine in your inbox every morning.
