Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11
We are and were created for God’s pleasure
Not all people live up to that
Some are great disappointments to God
We don’t get to determine who is and who isn’t
We humans do not get to decide who God loves and who He doesn’t
The Prodigal Son walked away from his father
and all the goodness he knew, all the goodness that he grew up with
When he finally came to his senses, he was welcomed back with open arms
He was humble and didn’t think he deserved to still be his father’s son
The father was so happy, He rejoiced and did all he could
to let his repentant son know he was forgiven and received
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
And am no more worthy to be called thy son:
make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose, and came to his father.
But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him,
and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luke 15:18-20
So shall we be received by God if we have the same humility as this son
God is merciful and gracious
and forgives what we and others have difficulty forgiving
Many people fault the older brother, and he was at fault
He had a hard time forgiving, but his father was patient and kind to him,
and when he explained to his father how he felt,
his father put his heart to rest and let him know how valuable he was
The father shared his heart about how happy he was
that his brother who had gone astray had returned
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me,
and all that I have is thine.
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad:
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Luke 15:31-32
We have two things, at least, to learn from this story
about those who are coming into the fold at this late hour:
God loves them and is glad they are coming to Him
We are to welcome them and be understanding that God still loves us
God takes great pleasure in His creation
We ought to receive that sentiment about ourselves
and also appreciate the Father heart and rejoice with those
who have joined Jesus on the road to Eternity