Prodigals-Arms Wide Open
He left the 99 to find the 1. Are you the 1? God's arms are wide open for you. Come home. Just as you are, come.
Luke 15:3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The youngest son asked for his inheritance, and then he traveled far away from home. The Bible says he squandered all his money away on wild living, the pleasures of this world. He was in need after that because there was a famine. He started to work with the pigs.
Verse 17 says when he came to his senses ... he realized that his father's servants were living better than him. He decided to go back home. He realized that he had sinned. He did not feel worthy, so he was humbled by this experience.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
Verse 20 says that the father saw his son from afar off and felt compassion for him. The father ran toward his son and threw his arms around him. The son tried to tell his father that he would be his servant because he was not worthy to be his son, but the father called for the best robe, ring, and sandals. The father called for a feast and a celebration because his son was lost and found, dead and now alive. Per verse 26, the son was back safe and sound.
The father represents Jesus and the unbelievers are the son. It does not matter how you have messed up your life or the things that you have done. You just need to return to Jesus. Confess your sins. Come to him just as you are. He loves You, and everything He has is yours. Heaven celebrates when you get saved and give your heart to Jesus. You have eternal life, now.
Thank you, Jesus for all that You have done for us. You save us, heal us, free us, and give us eternal life. You have made the way that we can have a relationship with Jesus.
I pray that if you have wandered away from Jesus that You can feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart. Do not be deceived by what the world can give you. It will never be enough. Please be open to Jesus' love. He just wants to be your friend. Give Him a chance.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
