It is always a blessing, at whatever age, to begin your day praying the prayer covenant, asking God to help you receive His lavish love and amazing grace. Reminding yourself that it is nothing you have done to earn His love; but simply His grace that makes you a child of God.
The Parable of Luke 15
Jesus was one of the greatest story tellers and told a parable found in Luke 15 that beautifully illustrates grace. No doubt you are familiar with the story.
There was a father who had two sons. The younger son asked his dad for his inheritance. The father loving his sons and wanting to be generous, gave each son his share. It wasn’t long afterwards that the younger son left home, moving to a country far away where he began squandering his inheritance–every penny of it pursuing a wild lifestyle of partying and prostitutes. A famine came upon the land. He found himself, once rich and fully fed, starving and penniless. Desperate for food, he searched for a job. The only one he could find was feeding pigs. Imagine the condition of this kid when the food the pigs were eating looked good to him. It was abundantly clear no one cared about this wayward boy.
In his desperation, he thought of home. Realizing how well his father cared for their servants, ensuring they always had an abundance of food, he thought to himself, I’ve done a terrible thing. I foolishly squandered my entire inheritance. Although I no longer deserve to be my father’s son, maybe if I go back home and repent of what I’ve done, he will make me one of his servants, and I will at least have enough food to eat.
This is where grace kicks in. When he was close to home, his father looked up and saw his son. He was overcome with joy and excitedly called to his servants to prepare a huge feast so they could celebrate his son’s return. His father exclaimed, “My son was dead and is now alive. He was lost but now is found!”
Receiving Grace
Grace is receiving what we have not earned and what we do not deserve. The young man in the story did not deserve his father’s forgiveness, but it was his lavish love for his wayward son that caused him to welcome him home with open arms. Jesus loves us that same way. Looking past our sin and waywardness and always willing to welcome us home. Maybe you have a son or daughter who has made wrong choices and drifted away from their family and faith. Continue to intercede to the Father on his behalf praying that He will reveal His grace in their time of need.
