Come Home for Christmas
Monday, December 18, 2006
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for making it possible for every person on this planet to “come home!” Thank You for such amazing love and grace that allows us to find You waiting for us when we come to our senses and return home. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today that I may glorify You in joyful, faithful obedience. This I pray in Jesus’ name, and for the sake of His coming Kingdom. Amen.
God’s Word Today
Luke 15:11-32
11To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living. 14About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. 16The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
17“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”’
20“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
22“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. 23And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
25“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve worked hard for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest calf we have.’
31“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you and I are very close, and everything I have is yours. 32We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
Reflecting on God’s Word
When have you been “far from home,” and how did God help you to “come home”?
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
Look at Luke 15:11-32 as a whole. What is the most important point in the passage for you? Why?
With whom do you identify the most in the story: the younger brother, the older brother, or the father? Why?
Understanding God’s Purpose for Us
According to Luke 15:11-32, what is God’s purpose for our lives?
Applying God’s Word to Our Purpose
List up to three “action points” from today’s Scripture below. Then take some time in prayer and ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you may live them out in your life this week!
1.
2.
3.
Thoughts—“You CAN Come Home!”
Jesus made an incredible point in today’s parable—God will accept us home no matter what we have done—no matter what! I made that point a half dozen times in the message in worship yesterday, but the reality is most of us need to understand God’s grace better than we do. While we hear of God’s grace in Sunday messages, and read of God’s grace in His word, we often live as if God’s salvation is only available to “good” people. The reality is that “good” people don’t need the salvation that Jesus offers, since by definition His salvation was purchased for sinners. The challenge we face as modern believers is that our culture tells us we are basically “good” people. In fact, most of us think we are better than most people. The younger brother in the parable seems really bad compared to most of us—wishing his father dead, blowing his entire inheritance on “wild living,” and then crawling back home in desperation. The challenge is we may never have done anything as openly sinful as the younger brother, but as James reminds us in his letter to the church if we have kept the whole law but have broken just one point, we have broken the whole law! (See James 2:10) We are all prodigal children. We must stop comparing ourselves to others, and compare ourselves to Jesus. Do we live up to HIS standard? Are we perfect as He is perfect? Of course not, which means that we are all in need of forgiveness and restoration as was the younger brother. Thank God, that God is ready—right now!—to welcome us home! That’s the Good News that Jesus offers us, so let’s live it today!