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"But while [his son] 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 It was a nice day, and I decided that I wanted to take my 3-year-old son, Jason, to the park so that he could feed the ducks and play on the playground equipment. The park we went to has a pond with about a 10-inch slope at the edge of the sidewalk that leads to the water's edge. When we got to the park, the first thing I told Jason was, "Be careful, or you'll fall into the water." I pointed out the slope to him and told him to stay away from it. We had been at the park less than 5 minutes, and Jason was fully enjoying feeding the ducks, when he got a little too excited, stepped onto the edge of the slope, lost his balance and took a tumble right into the water! (I can still see the whole thing in slow motion in my mind's eye!) I quickly reached into the water and pulled him out dripping wet. Jason was obviously startled by the incident and started crying. Except for a couple of scratches on Jason's face, a small cut on his hand, and a nice scrape on my knee, we both survived the incident unharmed. Should Jason have listened to me and stayed away from the water's edge? Yes. Did he follow my instruction? No. Did he have consequences (in the form of wet clothes and some "battle scars")? Yes, we did. But in it all of this, my first reaction was not to scold my son, tell him what a bad boy he was for not listening, and put him in time-out for not obeying me. No, when I pulled Jason out of the water, I knelt down, wrapped my arms around his trembling, sopping-wet body, and held him. After I got Jason's drenched clothes off of him and we had headed home, God used the incident to speak to me about His love and his response to those who stumble in this life. Just as I gave Jason instructions, God has given us His Word, the Holy Bible, as our "instruction book" on how He desires for us to live in this world. This includes both how he wants us to act, as well as those things he calls "sin" and desires for us to stay away from. And yes, just like my son did not listen to my words of instruction and warning, all of us have sinned, have stumbled, have disobeyed God. Many people view God as harsh, uncaring and judgemental, ready to punish anyone who does wrong. And while it is true that sin leads to consequences in the same way Jason's fall into the water left him with injuries and wet clothes, our sins do indeed bear consequences in the form of broken relationships, loss of the trust from others, etc. But God's response is not to "strike us with a lightening bolt." On the contrary. The verse quoted above is from the story often referred to as "The Parable of the Prodigle Son." And the verse tells us what God's response is to us when we have sinned and turn to him. He runs to us, wraps his arms around us, and tells us how much he loves us. If we will be honest with Him and, like the son in the story, tell God we have sinned against Him and ask for forgiveness, he will instantly forgive us, make us clean on inside, and welcome us into his family. What a wonderful, gracious, mighty God we serve! --Pastor Joel
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