In Luke 15, Jesus told a parable about a young man who decided to leave his family and his home. The young man had a very good father. He lived in a very nice home. His family was wealthy. There was no reason for him to leave home.
However, the young man did not just leave home. He asked his father to give him his inheritance. This was a terrible thing to do. A father could decide to give a son his inheritance early. It might be done if the father thought his son would be better if he left home. This was a rare occurrence. It, though, was a horrible thing for a son to ask for his inheritance. This was equal to saying he wished his father was dead.
The young man’s loving father did as his son asked. It must have been a very emotional thing for the father to do this. He had loved his son as best he could, but the son basically said he hated his father. The young fellow left and wasted away the money in a short time. He initially made friends because of his money, but when his wealth was gone, he had no friends. He became poor and homeless.
He decided to go back to his father. He made up his mind that he would ask to be a slave. At least he would have something to eat and a place to sleep.
His father saw him from a distance. We cannot know for sure, but it seems his father had been looking for him every day. When his father saw him, he ran to meet his son. He loved him so much that he was glad to just have his son back alive. The Arabs say that when a son has treated his father badly like this son did, he deserves to die. They interpret this part of the story that the father was actually running to his son to save his life. If others in the nearby town or nearby farms saw this son, they had the right to grab him and kill him. The father was showing exceptional mercy and grace by running to his son and showing his love.
Our Heavenly Father is like the father in the parable. He loves us so much that He is ready to run and embrace us when we come back to Him. Many in the world may not want to forgive us of things we have done. They would just as soon see us dead, but our Father forgives us. Satan does not want us to return to the Father. He will do everything in his power to keep us from making it back to the Father, and yet, our Father is always watching. He is always ready to receive us.
Study your Bible. Learn how to obey the Father. Stay with the Father and never leave him. Though, if you do leave God the Father, remember that He will willingly embrace you when you come back with the proper attitude like the young son in the parable. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
