May 20, 2013

Connecting With Our Father

Luke 15:11-32

“&lsquoMy son,’ the father said, &lsquoyou are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’”
—Luke 15:31

— 

We can have a father, and perhaps even be involved with the family business, and yet have no heart connection with him. This can happen for various reasons.

We can also be robbed of intimacy with our heavenly Father. For some reason we are unable or unwilling to receive love and acceptance from him.

Jesus shares a story of a farm family to illustrate this tragedy: “There was a man who had two sons.” The first son closed his heart to his father and wanted to be independent. He boldly said, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” The rebellious son saw his father for what he could get from him. Then the son moved away and searched for love in all the wrong places. This son came to his senses when all his resources dried up. Lonely and hungry, he returned home to his father.

The other son was obedient. He lived with and worked for his father, and yet his heart was far from him. He saw his father as a master for whom he needed to work. He said, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.” His stubbornness became clear when he would not even celebrate with family and friends. At the end of the story, this son was still sadly outside his father’s house.

Are you living at home with the Father, or are you living as if you are Fatherless?

Father, we thank you for your great love for us. Help us to see your love and to celebrate being your children. Amen.

About the author — John Kuperus

Since he was young, John Kuperus has had a passion that everyone would know Jesus. Spreading the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) is very important to him. To be better equipped for missions, John attended Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He applied these skills with marketplace evangelism in a business he started in Sussex, New Jersey. This calling continued to follow him, so John attended seminary and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, serving a church in Ontario for eight years. Currently he serves as a missionary for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He witnesses Jesus changing lives as people walk out of the darkness into the light. John is married to Helen, and they have seven children.

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