Today's reading is the "Parable of the Lost Son" with which we're all very familiar. A father has two boys and the one boy asks for his share of dad's wealth and leaves home, spending it on wild living. He goes broke, lives in squalor for while and then realizes he had it better at home. When he returns, Dad is overjoyed and throws a party. But the other son gets upset and refuses to join the celebration, despite Dad's pleas.To me, the story is about sin and how we deal with it. All of us have a part of us represented by the first son - that portion of our lives that we don't share with God. This story gives us hope that no matter what part of our life is in sin, we can come back to God. However, all of us have a portion of the second son in us as well. It's that dark portion of our mind that doesn't like it when someone gets a break with God. Here the story tells us to be more accepting and welcoming.
If you take both sons together, we have a clear road map for our journey together. From time to time, all of us will fail, and no matter what our sin is, we can return to God - always. When someone does return to God, we are reminded we must accept them with open arms as fellow companions on our journey, and rejoice with God when they return.
Don't wait for it to happen. Start today! Somewhere in your life is a person who is on the wrong path and needs help. Start by praying for that person, but then reach out to them. Be the welcoming committee!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please include your FIRST NAME and LAST INITIAL when making comments (we may remove comments from people outside our youth group community). If the comments don't work the first time, please keep clicking the post button (sometimes it takes a few tries).