Think back with me to a moment in time, when you’ve deeply hurt or disappointed someone you’ve loved the most in this world. They are the person you love most in this world, right? So how could you ever fathom of making them suffer?
Now, think back with me to a time of the relief you felt, when that same person took you in lovingly with both arms, completely erasing your past mistake as if it never happened. The joy of your loved one wiping the event from their memory, leaves you feeling so indebted to them. I, along with you, can agree that nothing on this earth can compare to the relief of that feeling.
I bring this up, to make you understand that it’s possible for us as humans to fall short in our relationships with those we love the most in this world, even when it would seem that wouldn’t be the case. So, if all of us as humans are each unable to perfectly love the person we love the most in this world: that says a lot about us. We must fall short; deeply, deeply short. It probably means that we all need chance after chance to be in happy relationships with other people, considering we aren’t perfect.
In the Parable of the Lost Son, Jesus dwells on God’s ability to give second chances when we, as His children, go astray from what God’s commandments are. The moment we realize we’ve gone astray and have sinned, what does our gut tell us? Well, of course, we’re frozen with guilt, and since we’re off path, it simply feels too late to even consider redeeming ourselves, and getting back on track. Afterall, He is God; and how could Someone with perfect, flawless, and faultless standards let us back into His fold again?
As with other relationships in our life, here, we would feel overwhelmingly defeated by our own mistake. But naturally, a small part of us wonders, deep down: could there ever be hope? Let’s see what the Lord has to say.
The Parable reads (Luke 15: 11-32):
“11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with [a]prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the [b]pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, [c]‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”
This is important for us to note, because it means we have abounding mercy with the Lord, despite our constant errors in judgement. We know that no matter how far off we stray, we can continuously experience the embrace of a father, each time we drift from God’s path for us.
Do we always have that response with other people, when we make mistakes in our relationships with them? No; we don’t. Many times we receive the cold shoulder, people have trust issues with us, or our relationships will simply never be the same, for any number of factors. But with the Lord? Well, we never have to worry. He is our solid rock, our firm foundation, always ready to take us home; and we don’t have to fear that after our sin, our relationship with Him might never be the same. He takes us back into His arms lovingly, as if the circumstances had never been changed.
At the same time, we can’t abuse His grace and continue sinning, knowing that we’ll constantly receive grace afterwards, for a couple of reasons:
- The Apostle Paul warns against this: (Romans 6: 1-2) “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Paul says here, that if we are true believers that have given ourselves to Christ: then we will do everything in our power to stop living in sin. We should seperate ourselves from sin as much as possible.
- (John 14:21): ” 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…” Jesus points out here, that if you really love Him, you’ll prove it by actually obeying His commandments and living out a Christ-centered life. You’ll do everything you can, to stop sinning and be the kind of person Christ wants you to be.
So: who does Christ want you to be? What’s the path you should try to stay on, and not stray from? These are a list of some basic commandments found in the the bible, that you should build you walk with the Lord on:
- Honor your Father and Mother.
- Do not Murder.
- Do not Commit Adultery.
- Do not Steal.
- Don’t give False Testimonies Against Another Person.
- Don’t Covet Another Person’s Belongings.
- Do not Commit Idolatry.
- Don’t use God’s Name in Vain.
Christ also mentions the greatest commandment of all (Matthew 22:37-39): “37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” So, there should be a priority to love the Lord, and to love those around us as ourself.
Has any of the above jumped out, as something you need to work on? That’s okay! Now is the time to experience God’s grace. He created you, and wants a relationship with you. Just remember to draw near to God, as you work on keeping His commands. He’s been waiting for you to come back, despite your failures.
(Lamentations 3:22-23): “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Questions? Please feel free to email: rachelwp27@gmail.com. God bless!
Lessons from our True Vine 