Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – we try and manipulate God to give us less based on what we perceive we deserve when she extravagantly gives us everything regardless of our deservedness.
Luke 15:21 TPT
[21] “Then the son said, ‘Father, I was wrong. I have sinned against you. I could never deserve to be called your son. Just let me be-‘ “The father interrupted and said, ‘Son, you’re home now!’
Observation
People who think that God is into goodness always want to punish badness. They always want to disqualify others based on badness. They think that “sonship”, being in the right and perfect relationship with God, is deserved through goodness. And because of this so many people stay away from God, and those that try to come close feel less than fully accepted – “just let me be…” Those who bring their goodness as their stock and trade for acceptance are so blind to how far away they are, for you will never know the intimacy of true ‘sonship’ if it is based on your perception of your goodness.
The father interrupted and said, ‘Son, you’re home now!’ When will we mature enough to hear God speak? When will we mature enough to see that God is interested more in the intimacy of embrace than the credentials of goodness? There is no “Just let me be” when it comes to God, there is only “Son, you’re home now!” We come with our manipulative apology hoping for just some scraps, “I was wrong, I’ve sinned, I don’t deserve,” and God interrupts our garbage with Her embrace of full forgiveness, full restoration, and full welcome home.
It must break the heart of God the way self-declared ‘good people,’ posture themselves as the only ones who have righteousness with God when God loves those who have lived as opposed to him who turn to home. Those who believe they own the right to God are exactly those who have no idea about who God is and what he is like. These self-professed representatives believe they have cornered the market on God despite the fact he is nowhere to be seen in their narratives. God left their building and is welcoming those who they have condemned into his home embrace. It’s so sad when you are so deeply committed but wrong.
Application
I will never come hoping for scraps, I will always have ears for God’s welcome embrace. I will never look to my goodness, or any good, as the transaction for rightness.
Response
Thanks that you are always welcoming me into your embrace. Whatever I have squandered, wherever I have been, whatever I have done, your posture never changes from embrace and welcome. It’s an incredible way to live knowing you are always loved, and always accepted with extravagant passion. It’s hard to be without reason for gratitude in your life when you live from this shaping story. I live a blessed life.
Meditation
Meditate – Son, you’re home now!
Consider
How often do I come to God with my manipulative apologies and low expectations of his extravagant goodness?
Do I sometimes join the goodness=righteousness camp by the way I see and interact with others?
JOURNEY DEEPER
