Lavish Love

We can get so caught up in our own worlds, our own expertise, our own desires, that like the Prodigal Son, we can wander away from the Father, either directly or in a gradual drift.  Before we know it, we experience "a famine" in our land, and a hunger that the things we once thought were important now fail to satisfy.  This is typical of our human nature and that's why the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, or "lost" son, ring so true today. In all three cases, Jesus emphasizes the love and energy expended to find the one missing sheep, or coin, and with the return of the son, we see an even clearer picture of the Father's love.  At his son's request for his share of the inheritance, given usually upon the death of the father, he does not balk; he then lavishes his son with forgiveness, gifts, and love upon his return, and even bears the chiding of his eldest son for his kindness and compassion.  This is the Father who gives this same lavish love to us.  Where are we with our fears, indifference, and even rejection?  This is a day to sit back and experience through memory all the instances of this great, unending and unconditional love.
Bro. Rene