Do you want to see how your heavenly Father responds when you have failed? Look at the parable of the prodigal son which Jesus shared:
Luke 15:11–24
11“A certain man had two sons. 12And 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. 13And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17“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! 18I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’” 20“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. 21And 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.’ 22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
We see a father who runs toward his prodigal son to embrace him the moment he sees him from a distance. Do you know that the father’s behavior is actually contrary to the law of Moses? I was studying this sometime back and I found that according to the law, if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who refuses to heed his parents, that man is supposed to bring his son to the elders of the city, and all the men of his city are to stone his son to death, so that they can put away the evil from among them, and all Israel shall hear and fear. (Deut.21:18-21) That’s the law of Moses.
When Jesus shared the story of the prodigal son, all the Jewish people who heard Him would have been familiar with this law. However, instead of the condemnation and punishment that the rebellious son deserved under the law, Jesus revealed the Father’s heart of grace and forgiveness in the new covenant. At that point, Jesus had not yet died to establish the new covenant of grace and the people listening to Him were all still under the law of Moses. Jesus was giving them a taste of what was to come. He was showing them the reality that we enjoy today.
Did the son sin against his father? Yes, most definitely. But did the father heap guilt and condemnation on his son before he received his son? No, he did not. In fact, the father did not even give his son the opportunity to finish his rehearsed speech. The father interrupted his son before he could ask to be made one of his hired servants. The father interrupted him not to condemn him for sinning against him, but to instruct his servants to bring out the best robe, put a ring on his son’s hand and sandals on his son’s feet!
Did it matter to the father that his son’s intentions may not have been all that good? We all know that the son was not returning to the father’s house because he had realized his mistake. He was returning because he was hungry! When he was feeding the pigs, he remembered that even the hired servants in his father’s house had more than enough food to eat. That was when he decided to head back to his father’s house. But the father did not care what his son’s intentions were. When the prodigal son “was still a great way off ” (and the father had no way of determining why his son was returning), his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his son’s neck and kissed him. What a wonderful picture of God’s heart of love!
Who was the one sharing the parable of the prodigal son? It was Jesus. I think Jesus knows His Father really well, wouldn’t you agree? We are hearing an eyewitness account of what God the Father is like, and Jesus should know! See how He described God’s response to those who have sinned. How is it that the father saw his son even when he was still a great way off? That’s because the father had been waiting and longing for his son to return. He must have kept his eyes on the horizon daily, hoping that each day would be the day his beloved son returned home.
Can you see His heart of love for you even when you have failed Him? You just have to take one step toward God and your loving Daddy in heaven will run toward you with no condemnation. He wants to fall upon you, kiss you, and lavish you with His love and blessings! He is waiting to clothe you with the robe of righteousness, put the signet ring of authority back in your hands and shod your feet with the sandals of right standing. He wants to reinstate you, wash you and throw a party because you came home! Our God is a God who will run toward you with NO CONDEMNATION.
Let’s cast aside our religious ideas about God. Take that one step toward your Daddy even when you have failed, and He will run to you and embrace you. He loves you and accepts you just as you are. He has all the power to help you when you fail and feel defeated.
Rejoice, my friend — there is now no condemnation for you because you are in Christ Jesus!
Your Daddy loves you and accepts you just as you are, and He has all the power to help you when you fail and feel defeated.