Luke 15:31-32
“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Most children love to play “Hide and Seek.” But two things are true about young children when they play “Hide and Seek”; first, most of them aren’t very good at hiding; and second, they really want to be found!
I can remember playing hide and seek with one of my boys when he was very young – and when it was his turn to hide he ran to the family room of our house, curled up into a ball in the middle of the floor and pulled a blanket over himself. So when I came looking for him, I saw this big, lumpy blanket in the middle of the floor that was the shape of my little boy! It was as if, in his hiding, he was shouting, “Find me Daddy, please find me!”
The older bother in the story did not get lost in the far country or wind up groveling for corn husks with the pigs – but he was hiding. He was hiding from his father and he was hiding from himself. He was hiding a heart that had become proud and bitter. He was hiding a heart that had become filled with resentment and a judgmental spirit. He was hiding his longing to be important to his father; he was hiding is longing to be loved. So he threw a blanket of self-righteousness and pride over himself, and stood in the back yard almost crying out, “Find me Daddy, please find me!”
And his father did find him. His father assured him of his love; his father reminded him of his rich inheritance; and his father invited him to join the celebration.
Jesus doesn’t tell us whether or not the older brother allowed himself to be found. We don’t know if he responded to the father’s love. We don’t know if he eventually joined the party. We can only hope he did.
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1 comment:
As I sit here, reading today's devotional I think about my own experiences with trying to hide from God. It is humorous to think that in my ignorance, I thought it would be possible. I used to think that if I didn't talk to God He would forget about me or that if I sinned enough time He would stop paying attention to me because I was not following His guidance. How did I get so far from home? As a young child I used to do everything I was told trying to win my earthly father's approval and love, I didn’t need to do it since my father loved me already, but I did it anyways. I would feel pride whenever I saw my father smile about something I had done right, or accomplished some sort of difficult feat. As an adult, it was obvious to see that I was trying to do the opposite of what I had learned in the scriptures. Why did I stop trying to win my Godly Father's love and approval? Is it possible that as we grow older our selfishness grows with us? Our human nature continues to try to impress everyone around us with our accomplishments and earthly possessions, but we easily forget that our Father cares about nothing else but us. When the time comes, I want to be at my Father's party and celebrate everyone's return back home, including my own.
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