An amazing picture

Last night at Club 10:10 we were looking at the parable of the lost sons, although we only looked at the younger son (Luke 15 v 11 - 24).

The younger son rebelled against his father and left home. After a while when he'd spent all his inheritance and began to be in need he decided to return home. He thought he'd go home, tell his father he had sinned and become a servant. After all, he didn't deserve anything from his father. And so he set off back home. When he was far off his father saw him and ran to meet him. The son said, "Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son."

Now what would you expect at this point? The son had got it badly wrong. Maybe you'd expect the father to say, "Son, you made a big mistake. You really hurt me leaving like that. Don't do it again. But I'll forgive you this time". You might even expect the father to say something along the lines of, "Well, son, you've had your chance and blew it. You don't deserve anything from me."

But what does the father do...'But while he (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him'.

Last night M, one of our boys, and Pete, our ministry trainee, were acting out the story. As I narrated Pete, as the younger son, started walking towards M, his father. When I got to the bit, 'his father saw him...' M literally sprinted towards him, leapt down a couple of steps and jumped onto Pete, flinging his arms around Pete's neck. It just summed up the amazing picture of the way God forgives people when they come back to him. No lectures, no grudges, no half heartedness. Total forgiveness. M's acting was an amazing picture of the amazing way our Father deals with us.