“Praise ye the Lord! O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever” (Psalms 106:1).
There was a certain man who had two sons. The younger son demanded for his inheritance and wanted to be separated from his family.
Because of the faithfulness and love of the father, he released all his wealth to the youngest child. After a few days, the younger son sold what his father had given to him. Then he left home.
He took with him the money and everything that he had. He went on a long journey to a country far away. He squandered all his money on friends and the pleasures of this world.
Then after he had spent everything, his so-called friends were gone and so were the pleasures of this world.
It also happened that a great famine had took place in his area. Thus, the young man had nothing to eat.
And so, he worked in a field where he fed the pigs. Since nobody gave him any food, he also ate the food that the pigs were eating.
Finally, he decided to come back to his father’s house where there’s enough food and where he will not die with hunger.
But before he arrived home, the young man prepared a script of forgiveness when he came back to his dad’s house. While going home – he was still a long way from the house – his father saw him and felt very sorry for his son.
The merciful father put his arms around his youngest son and kissed him. He was so happy to see him once again.
However, his son confessed to his dad that he was not worthy to be called his son anymore because he had sinned against heaven and God.
In response to that, his dad commanded his servants to bring the best robe and put it on his lost son, and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet.
He also commanded
his servants to bring the fatted calf and kill it, so they can celebrate the coming back of his youngest son.
When the older brother heard the good news about his younger brother who went back home, he was so furious about it. So, he confronted his dad and pleaded not to welcome his younger brother in their house, after he betrayed the family and wasted the money given to him.
Then his dad assured him that he’s been always with him and everything that he got is his also. He said, “it is fitting that we should be happy to have your younger brother back because he was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is now found.”
When asking a former drug addict – now a born-again Christian – about how this story relates to his former life, a man named Lyne Turner said when he had his money and all those drugs, he noticed that he had a lot of “friends.”
But when he had no more drugs and money as well, his so-called “friends” suddenly disappeared. Thus, he realized his sins and decided to ask for forgiveness to Jesus Christ and repented for his sins. And God showed the former addict His amazing love and forgiveness, and Turner has been changed from glory to glory.
Now, that’s the beauty of God’s faithfulness and mercy to all of us. We have sinned against His holy presence, but He is longing for us to come back to Him soon. He is only waiting for us to repent from our sins and surrender our lives completely to His perfect will.
Ana Williams is a columnist for The Graham Star.