God not only says he cares – he shows that he cares.  Here’s a story for you that I hope will give you hope that God truly loves you and cares about you – immensely.

To mock Jesus during his alleged trial right before he died, the Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns on him that looked similar to the one pictured here. Jesus suffered intense beatings and further mockings at the hands of the Roman soldiers before he was actually crucified on the cross a short time later. He could have called down angels to help him but instead he remained humble and willingly went to the cross to give his life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. While on the cross before he died, he even prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." This is perhaps the ultimate picture of genuine, unconditional love for all of humanity.

One of the greatest love stories in the Bible is the story of the lost son or Prodigal Son.  In this story we see an amazing picture of God as our Father.  We also see love expressed through acceptance and forgiveness.

The story illustrates that God longs to bring us back to a place of belonging with Him.  Many of us need to take the spiritual step to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ first.  The opposite of being lost is being found.   God says that being found means accepting his invitation to return to your right place, as a son or daughter of God, by inviting Jesus Christ to be the leader of your life.  Don’t miss out on the peace and joy that God wants you to have today.  Discover God’s love for you by looking at the story of the lost son.

Then he said, ‘There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.'

‘So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

‘That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, 

Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father.

‘When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech:’

Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'

‘But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here--given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.     Luke 15:11-24 

Picture what’s going on here in the story.  It was a small town so everyone knew that the son ran away and took a bunch of the family’s money with him.  The father probably experienced a lot of shame from the town people for what had happened with his uncontrollable son.  But, he didn’t care.  He loved his son and wanted him to come home – more than anything else.  In this part of the country where this town was, there was most likely an open, treeless horizon, so you could see someone coming a half-mile away.  Notice that the father saw him while he was still a long way off.   The father was probably looking up from his work every fifteen minutes or so to catch his son walking toward the town on the horizon.  Otherwise he would his son would have arrived before he looked up.  That’s how much the father loved his son.  His longing to be reunited with his son was consuming him.

Now, we can also tell that the father was a very wealthy man.  And, in the Ancient Middle East, dignified men did not show this kind of emotion – let alone running to meet his son.  He didn’t care.  He was willing to experience shame in order to meet his son and show his love for him – in front of others.

In Rembrandt’s painting of the reunion of the father with his son, notice the father’s hands. They extend a loving and warm embrace. The father knew his son was sorry, broken and desiring to be restored. What else do you see that describes the love that the father is showing toward his lost son?

In one part of the story, the son said, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son …” But the father doesn’t even listen and instead he throws the most incredible party for him!

Jesus is showing us that this is a picture of God’s genuine love for us. If you haven’t entered into the process of asking forgiveness from God for something or from someone else that you may have hurt, God wants you to see that he loves you just like the father loved his son in this story. He’s running toward you this in hot pursuit. Won’t you turn and let him take you in His arms?