YOU’RE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE!

“And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey…” (Lk.15: 13)

His son has left! In the two preceding parables, a shepherd loses a lamb, a woman her week’s salary and both stopped what they were doing and began a diligent search for the same until they had found it. Though the Father definitely lost a son, he just could not drop everything and search for him as the others had. The son doesn’t want to be found, the Father can’t physically go out, find him and drag him back against his will. What a dilemma! Love can be unmercifully painful!

A young girl asks her mother…”What’s it like to give birth to a baby?” “You’ll know when the time comes.” Came the reply. A young mother states to her mother… “Mum, I had no idea what you went through for me, until I’ve had my own child. Thank you, I love you Mum!”

Value in relationship carries a huge personal experience price tag. Some things can be taught, some things caught but the truly valuable things of life have to be experienced and sometimes lost to find. What can the Father do? How can he deal with his own emotion?

What can he do? Determine to highly value his son’s relationship non-judgmentally and prioritize it. How can he deal with his own emotions? Put everything he has into making his home a Welcome Place, a place that makes time and listens, a place worth visiting.
Pride is a poor substitute for a loving embrace.

“But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion …” !

Son, you’re always welcome here!

God Bless,
Pastor Paul

The Great Escape

(Luke 15:13)
“…He journeyed into a distant country.”

Exasperated… “I can’t seem to please anybody, least of all myself.”
So he decided to get out of the family business, as far and as fast as he could arrange it. Disillusioned with who he was and taunted by relentless self questioning…
“Is this all there is to life for me? I’ll never find out if I stay here!”

He resented the expectations placed on him, the 24 hour, seven days a week obligation…a boring, lifeless, imprisoning drudgery, day in and day out accountability…“I can’t stand it anymore! There’s got to be more!”

The younger of two sons, he was born to his father’s second wife and although not entitled to the first-born son’s inheritance he was due one-third of the estate. (Duet.21:15-17) He was determined to have his day in the sun. “Father, give me my share.” After the reckoning was completed, he took the cash equivalent to his share of the property and left. “Free at last…I’m free at last!”

Thus the Great Escape had begun. Running from family expectations into, to him, a vastly astounding and exciting world. Initially he felt justified drowning his memories in drunken binges and comforting his emotional pain in the arms of available women. He never seemed short of people who’d have a drink with him and listen to his woeful tale of parental neglect and usury. In fact, so long as he kept buying the drinks, they’d agree passionately with anything he devised to say.

He was amazed at how many young people from his district he’d seen from time to time…they’d run off, just like him.
“They’re lost and don’t even know it.” He’d say to some of his drinking buddies. “Definitely too young to be running with this crowd.” They responded, “Did you notice how dead looking and cynical they’ve become? Hard to believe it’s the same people.” “It’s been six months since we’d seen them last and they’ve been in the game now for the last three months since their money gave out.”
“Some of the guys are saying they’d do anything at all now for a feed. Pathetic really…considering where they’ve come from.”
“They can’t all be as smart as you now can they? Get another drink will you!”

----

God bless you and keep you in the centre of His will, encouraged and fortified in your faith and desire to be available and obedient to the leading of His Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Every day somebody is crying out for a savior. The Lord enquiring , “who will respond for us?”

If you’ve been running and now have exhausted your resources … if you release your whole situation and life back into the hands of God He’ll undertake immediately, on your behalf, to lift your burden and connect you with the appropriate resource and favor with men to reverse your current situation. Trust God, He won’t let your down if you trust Him and let Him act on your behalf, in Jesus’ name.