The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of June 21
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20)
Father’s Day can be hard for some of us. We see the commercials on TV and the ads in magazines – images of dads barbequing dinner on the grill; dads tossing their gleeful toddlers high in the air; dads fishing or hiking with their kids in the great outdoors. Our heart might hurt if these pictures don’t represent our own experiences.
Because we live in a broken world, not all of us have had the blessing of being raised by a loving father. Some of us have no memory of our father at all. Others only remember harsh words or actions, neglect or absence.
And yet, we can take comfort in the fact that we have a heavenly Father who loves us and cherishes beyond our wildest imagination. The story of the prodigal son in the gospel of Luke offers us a beautiful picture of our Father’s love. Regardless of the fact that his son made some egregious mistakes – abandoning his family, squandering his inheritance and living a life of sin – the father welcomes his wayward son back with open arms. Spotting his wandering son in the distance as he makes his way home, the father bounds out the door and across the yard, wrapping his arms around his son in a tight hug and kissing him. What a homecoming!
This is the kind of pure, boundless, exuberant love our Father has for each and every one of His children. He loves us unconditionally. He calls each one of us His beloved.
It’s true, we may feel grief or regret for the ways in which our earthy father may have failed us, but none of us is without a Father’s love. We have a Father who loves us more than we can possibly know or understand.
Abba Father, I am grateful for the undeserved love You lavish on me. Amen.