(by pastor Jean)

If you take the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-14) at face value, it is about a young man who no longer wants to live at home, he wants to break away from his family and be self-sufficient. How often this happens these days and how heartbroken are the parents of these children. The father in the story shows intense love for his son and completely forgives him when he returns. Now, let’s compare this to the love of our heavenly Father when His children turn their backs, think they don’t need God anymore and even think they know better than God. God demonstrates His amazing wide, deep love (Eph 3:18-19) for us by loving, forgiving and healing us (“he bent down and kissed him” V 20). There is absolutely nothing we can do that can prevent God from forgiving us and welcoming us back with open arms. No amount of alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality or just plain busyness could put us beyond the love of God. No person is so deep in sin that God’s love cannot reach them. That right there is mind boggling. God’s love is so great that He even throws a party for us when we repent from sin (V 22,23). God’s love for us is everlasting (Jer 31:3) and full of compassion (V 20). Of course, we have a part to play – we have to swallow our pride, humble ourselves and repent (V 21). If we do that God even forgets what we did (Heb 8:12). “For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the heavens above the earth” (Ps 103:11; NLT).