Extravagant Forgiveness
Luke15 v20 (NIV)
“But while the son was a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to him and threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Luke15 v24 (NIV)
“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
My daughter, when she was in her late teens, was dashing around to get ready to go out with friends; she found a pair of jeans that needed ironing. So she proceeded to iron them on the carpet and then ran off to her date. Quite quickly a strong smell of burning caught my attention - as did a triangular shaped black hole in the carpet where she had left the iron face down!! That wasn’t too difficult to forgive - she was very repentant and we did get a new carpet shortly afterwards.
Jesus tells us a story of extravagant forgiveness. A wealthy man is asked by one of his two sons to give him prematurely his share of the father’s inheritance. He plans to leave home and live in another country. I am amazed by the father’s grace; he must have felt a huge a mix of emotions. He was losing his son and, I imagine, feeling disappointed by his son’s selfishness and greed.
We know the story of how the young man left the country and lived a lavish lifestyle, losing and squandering his father’s savings. When a famine hit the country where he lived, he became more aware of all he had left behind. Desperate for food and working with pigs who were better fed than he was, he resolved to go home and ask his father’s forgiveness.
There are no half-measures to the father’s forgiveness. He shows only delight, kindness and love in being reunited with his son.
This is such a wonderful picture of the character of our father God. He forgives extravagantly, unconditionally and with great celebration.
I love that saying: ‘God is in the business of rubbing out, not rubbing in!’
Prayer — Thank you, father God, for forgiving us joyously and extravagantly. We pray that we would be able to forgive each other and ourselves in the same way.