Approaching the Father, Lessons From The Lost Sons
Luke 15: 20 "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. (NLT)
This Fathers Day we could pick any number of Scriptures or Biblical stories to look at. We could exposit on Abraham, the Father of many nations or Jacob the great Patriarch. We could look at the many qualities that make God our Father in heaven; our Abba. Lost sometimes in the amidst the focus of God being our savior, redeemer, healer, provider and so much more, is the fact that He is our father as well.
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, " Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8: 15-17 (NIV)
The Spirit we received from God is one of sonship. Remember even when Jesus was promising the disciples the deliverance of the Holy Spirit; here was how He explained it:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14: 15-18 (NIV)
I will not leave you as orphans! God still makes that promise to us every day. We have a heavenly father who has adopted us into His family. We are God's children co-heirs with Christ! But the question this Fathers Day is how do we approach our Father? With what spirit do we choose to approach our Abba? For these answers, we turn to the story of the lost (prodigal) son. The key verse today shows us how our Father approaches us. God does not wait intemperately for us, tapping His foot angrily at our state of disobedience. He does not sit in judgment of us, waiting to give us a good solid "I told you so!" The world has done a good job of portraying God as some irate old man in the sky waiting to throw a lightning bolt at us while He screams for us to get off His lawn! The key verse however shows the true nature of God toward us. He is filled with love and compassion for us. He is willing to meet us where we are at, running toward the penitent heart. Our Father is a good dad. But how do we approach Him? Let's take a look at the three sons in this story yes there were three.
The first son is often referred to as the prodigal son because of how he lived his life in complete disobedience toward his father; lapping up all of the sin the world had to offer
