God is Love

Luke 15:20-24; Romans 5:8

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. After the prodigal comes to himself, he returns toward home to beg his father to forgive him and take him back as a hired servant. That’s when love moved first.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). The picture is that of a loving, doting father who not only didn’t turn away from his wayward son but also didn’t even pause to ask a word about where the son had been or what he had done. He simply fell on his neck and kissed him.

His boy was home.

Even when the prodigal was thinking of possibly coming home, it never entered his mind that he would be anything more than slave. That’s strange. Did his dad ever do something to communicate that message? Certainly not, but the prodigal knew what he deserved and knew what he probably would do if the roles were reversed.

“Well, if I was dad I’d tell you what I’d do. I’d tell my son, ‘You get out there and maybe, just maybe, you can just hang around outside of the gate for a few weeks. I’ll let you know if I’m going to let you in.'”

We think the same way. We assume God is like us. We assume God loves like we love. We assume His anger is like ours. We assume His patience is like ours, and there ain’t nothing more dangerous than a Christian who’s right. We have power when we’re right, and we show people who we would be if we were in control. We would rain down fire, man, and people who wronged us would be toast.

The prodigal based his picture of God upon what he would do himself and what he knew he deserved. He didn’t see any way back to the father because the father owed him nothing. The son already had taken everything coming to him. He even may have put his dad in debt just to go off and do his thing. He figured his father could never forgive him and take him back without severe retribution.

When you’re not in the Word for yourself, you have to figure out God by yourself. In my darkest times, I thought, “There’s no way to really get back to Him. Everything I ever learned that you’re not supposed to do, I’ve already done most of that. I’m only 19. Good grief. It just doesn’t seem like there’s a way.” And that’s when hopelessness comes.

At those times, we have to remember the runaway’s father. When he was a long way off, the father came running. It was socially unacceptable and unmanly for men to run in Palestine. The father’s actions would’ve left Jesus’ hearers stunned and even offended as He told this story. But love doesn’t care. Love always moves first.