October 1st, 20

All That I Have is Yours

Zechariah 13 - 14, Psalm 147, Luke 15

  boys coming home, both were lost.  Both were slaves - one to his lust and appetites and one to his pride. But God has a way of finding lost things.    Right before this story, Jesus tells a parable of a lost sheep.  He says, God is like a good Shepherd who finds lost sheep. He brings them home on his shoulders, calls his friends together, and throws a party - because what was lost has now been found.  And that’s what we see in the younger brother. We’re told that he came to his senses (Lk 15:17 NLT). He saw something in his Father from a long distance away and he came home.  

But the good Father/Shepherd still has some work to do. There’s one sheep still to go, the older brother.  This sheep is lost too - not in his lusts and appetites, but in pride. It has drawn him away to a distant place, far from his Father’s heart. And unlike his younger brother, he hasn’t come to his senses yet.  He’s still lost, to his home and his father’s heart, even as they share a roof.  Of all the ways to be lost, this is perhaps the most tragic.  And in the father’s words we ought to hear his broken and pleading heart:  Dear son,  all  I have is yours. Come to your senses.  My heart overflows for you.  Don’t let pride stand in the way, blinding you from your home and my heart, any longer.  I am standing right in front of you.  I have found you, too.  Let me take you on my shoulders and carry your heart home.  

God is a good Father and a good Shepherd and he is always pursuing our hearts.  You may come to your senses and see him when you are far off, or you might come to your senses and see him standing outside your own home. Either way, he is a good father and a good shepherd, and he won’t stop until he’s found what he’s looking for, until we are fully alive and come to join the party.

Recognize your Good Father, the Good Shepherd, and see how he is always pursuing your heart, even today.  He is always telling you, “All that I have is yours!”  Come join the party.

You are loved!