“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” Luke 15:23
Dear One:
What is the value that God puts on a life? In the parable of the “prodigal son,” we are confronted with two sons, one devoted to his father, the other devoted to himself. The father loved them both. He respected and honored the faithful work, and relationship, that he had with the son who remained with him. The love that the father had for the unfaithful, and dissolute son, was clearly seen in his reaction to perceiving his return home. Scripture tells us that, “…when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (v.20) The father loved both sons, but as long as one was in a far country, living a wasteful life all for himself, that love could not be expressed, only suppressed. It would only be when the son returned, repentant in heart, that the father could express again his love for his son. Love’s expression would exceed the boundary of what was considered “right,” in that it was abounding, beyond what one would normally think should be manifested. The father not only calls for the best robe, a ring and shoes, but a feast to be made on behalf of the son who had returned. The abundant and abounding love of the father for this wayward son, must needs have its expression in this manner, for how will the son forget the foreign country, and his sin, realizing that he is TOTALLY accepted, received into the family again. The love of God is similar, in that, it exceeds what man holds to be its expression in the face of the needs of men. The son who had remained with the father, experienced on a daily basis, rich and consistent communion with him. The returned son, deprived of this communion, this true LIFE, was again brought to the place where he could know the communion of the father. But it would take the abundant showering of the father’s blessing upon him to convince him of his acceptance again.
Much place is given in Scripture concerning Israel’s rejection of God, God’s efforts to bring them back to Him, to that place of communion with Him. The deportation of Israel to Babylon was the result of their stubborn refusal to truly trust God. Jeremiah would write of the seventy year period which would describe the length of the deportation. Jeremiah would also be God’s man to warn the people of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. He would be the one to communicate to them the mind and heart of God concerning the RETURN to the land of Israel, and the blessing that He would shower upon them. In several ways, and at different times, God would speak through Jeremiah concerning the period of the return, and restoration. God’s promises not only speak of meeting the people in a material way, prospering them in their endeavors to return and be re-established in the land, but also, and primarily, to “…give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them.” (Jer. 32:39) Like the prodigal, or wayward son, who had gone into a foreign land, the people of Israel in their captivity, felt the pain and suffering of being strangers in a strange land. They were slaves to the Babylonians, obliged to sing the “songs of Zion” to their mocking captors. Their only hope resided no longer in themselves, but only in the heart of God, in the heart of this Heavenly Father, who alone and wholly loved them. This love of God would be revealed to them by a promise of a new covenant with Israel, and also, to plant them “assuredly” in the land of promise. God declares this will be done, “…with My whole heart, and with My whole soul.” (v.41)
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see and understand the love of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad