I’d like to offer two pieces of advice in this devo. Number one: Never try the following. Imagine it’s your final exam for math. You’ve skipped class everyday since the start of the semester, and want to express your displeasure with your teacher. You write the exam in red crayon. You answer questions with philosophical essays on why math cannot be proven from the perspective of reason. You knew you weren’t going to pass the class, so why not go out with a little fun?

To your surprise, when your report card comes home, you see not 0, not even 51% as a pity grade so your teacher doesn’t have to see you again, but 100%. You’ve spat in the teacher’s face and now (s)he's giving you 100%?

In a lot of ways that’s what God does for us. Jesus tells the story in Luke 15:11-31 of a Prodigal (or lost) son. Number two: Actually go and read the story. Here’s the quick summary: The younger son asks for his part of the inheritance ("gee Dad, I can’t wait for your death, can I have my part of what you’ve worked your entire life for now?") and very shortly afterwards goes out to live on his own. It isn’t long before the son ends up with nothing, and doesn’t even have enough to afford Pig feed. Realizing what he’s done, in wasting everything, he is repentant and decides to go back to old Dad. Not to be a son, but a servant. Honestly, what more could he expect from his Dad?

Yet before the son can even say his prepared speech, his Father is jumping to let him back into the family, with a party no less.

And here’s the lesson. God is the same way. We can’t earn this forgiveness on our own; God has already offered it to us through Good Friday and Easter! All we need to do is accept it. That’s what’s Grace is about. God wipes out what we’ve done wrong and lets us start over again. A pretty good trade right?

But there are two sons in this story, and more for us to learn. The older son, the one who has been with his father all this time is a little annoyed by all of this. Can we not identify with this son too? "Dad, he got what’s coming to him. He wasted your money on his own stupid self and now you are going to spend more on him? At least let him grovel a little bit."

The father has to go out and plead with the elder son to come in. Why? Because he wants the son to give his brother grace too. We should be joyful when someone does return to God, we shouldn’t hold it over their heads forever like one of the characters from the drama (Chris). God Loves them, and he accepts them with Grace. He wants us to do the same.

Here’s a quick prayer that we can ask God for his help with everyday.

"Dear God, thanks that you have already offered me forgiveness and grace through the death of Jesus on Good Friday. Please let me accept your grace and realize I couldn’t do it on my own. Thanks also that because of your love, you raised Jesus back to life and he is with us now. Please give me the help to extend grace to anyone that needs it from me, as you have already done for me. Amen."

 

(Brian Palmer is from the Greater Toronto Area.)