Luke 15:20 (NKJV): And he (the lost son) 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.
These are also the 5 things God does to you in all His love & grace. No matter how you have ‘blown it’ in your life, or what your sins or mistakes may be, just as in this parable (Luke 15:11-24), God wants to embrace you and pour (lavish) His love on you! (Romans 5:5)
When the lost son ‘came to himself’ (Luke 15:17), hungry, broke and with nowhere else to go, he decided to come back to his father and be his hired servant. But when the father saw him from a distance, he was so filled with compassion that he ran towards the lost son. Now, that was never supposed to be in their family tradition! The son should be the one running towards the father, not the other way round! But all that didn’t matter to the father anymore! What mattered was “my son is back!” It also didn’t matter how filthy, dirty, or unkempt the son was at that time, he went on to embrace and kiss him. That’s how God (in all His love and grace) is to you too!
Not only that, the father then made sure the best robe is put on the son, a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet (Luke 15:22). The robe means ‘God’s righteousness’ (Isaiah 61:10), the ring means ‘God’s authority’ (Genesis 41:42), and the sandal means ‘being God’s beloved son’ (Exodus 12:11). In His loving embrace, He wants you to know you have all these too, and that’s exactly how lavish God’s love and grace is for you. Know that He doesn’t look at your sins anymore when you look to Him. All your sins have already been punished on Jesus’ body when He died for you on the cross. In fact, there’s no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Will you allow Him to embrace you again? There’s really no one too filthy for Him to embrace. In fact, He specializes in the sinners, the lepers, ‘the lost, the last, and the least’ during His ministry on earth.
I’m not saying “you try to embrace Him”, but I’m saying “allow Him to embrace you”. There’s a big difference here, and it’s when you receive His love and embrace, your life will change!
His love for you is also always sure. Human, organizations, or even your best of friends may fail you, but His love for you never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). Look unto Jesus & all that He’s done for you on the cross. In Him, you are complete (Colossians 2:10), and in Him is all your sufficiency (2 Corinthians 12:9). His love for you is perfect, and in fact, 1 John 4:18 says, ‘His perfect love (for you) casts out (any) fear’.
Indeed, there’s no fear in His love & embrace!
