"His Actions Reveal His Heart!"

   Then He said: A certain man had two sons.
   "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.
   "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
   "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
   "Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of the country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
   "And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
   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!
   I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
   and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."
   "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.
   "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.'
   "But the father said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
   'And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry. Luke 15:11-24

I know this parable is supposed to be focusing on the young man who is considered the prodigal son but I would just like to say that one of my favorite verses is the one telling us, "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." I love that the father was watching down the road, waiting for his son whom he loved  to come home. He was watching and waiting and even when he was still a great way off his father saw him coming. He didn't sit there waiting for him to get there either. He immediately set out at a run to get to him as quickly as possible. When he got there he grabbed him in an embrace and showered him with kisses not condemnation, judgement, or even a single, 'I told you so.' Instead, he then immediately reinstated him, and not as the servant his son intended, but as his son with robes and rings and the fatted calf for the celebration. Why? Why would he be sitting around looking for the son who left? Why would the father act this way? Why? The answer is easy. It is also the simple truth that we all need to remember! Quite simply put; it is that ... His actions tell the whole story! The Father's every action is because he loved him!

O Lord God, help us to always keep this truth close to our hearts! Why? Because every one of Your actions, as our heavenly Father, declares Your love for us as well!

Help us, as Your people, to not only know You as our Heavenly Father with our head knowledge but to experience the fulness of Your loving embrace as well!

Happy Father's Day and God Bless!!!

Staff of Snack Time Devotions