Ever find yourself wondering if God can really forgive you after you’ve failed Him yet again? I do. I’ve learned so much about God’s limitless forgiveness when I repent (yes, even if it’s the 32,121st time) from my struggles with sexual purity.
Remember the prodigal son? You may have thought of him as a metaphor for the unbeliever who comes to know the Lord, but remember that he is a son. He was a son before he sinned and after. The prodigal son is a metaphor, true, but it’s for the believer who backslides.
As the story goes, the son asked his father for his full inheritance, an act equivalent to telling his father that he wished he were dead. Despite this incredible disrespect, his father gave it to him. The son took the money and squandered it through sinful living. When it was gone, he had to tend pigs to survive.
Think of that! A Jew tending pigs! Pigs were/are considered to be an unclean animal according to Jewish scripture. The son was desperate…so desperate that he considered eating the pigs food to ease his hunger pains. Standing in their filth, he realized that his father’s lowest servant had a better life than him. What he didn’t seem to realize is that he had been in the muck long before he went to work for the farm. His life in the fast lane may have seemed fun and exciting, but it was fleeting and empty. His father offered a dignified, meaningful life of service. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would come with lasting and satisfying treasures the youth couldn’t imagine.
The son decided it was time to go home and beg for his father’s mercy. He had his speech planned. He would confess his sin and ask his father to put him to work. He knew that he didn’t deserve to be treated like a son, so he was prepared to return as a servant. To his surprise, though, his father was waiting for him. Watching the horizon for his son’s return, the father saw him and came running. Embracing his son, he commanded the servants to throw a party, because his son had returned to him. All was forgiven.
Apply the metaphor to your struggles with sexual purity. When we persist in living sinfully, we are squandering our inheritance – our gifts and talents, the blessings of God, His plans for us… – but that never changes our position with God. We are always and irrevocably sons of the Father. So, even though you’ve been in the muck, wasting your inheritance, the Father will forgive you and welcome you back with open arms.
Greg Laurie, in his daily devotional, said this about the prodigal son:
When the prodigal son finally went home, his father ran to meet him (see Luke 15:20). In that culture, it was undignified for an older man to run. But the father didn’t care about dignity; all he cared about was his son. The father smothered his son with kisses. Now keep in mind that he had been hanging around with pigs. This kid would have reeked. His clothes would have been tattered rags. His father could have said, “Go get a bath! Then I will hug you.” But he hugged and kissed his son in his miserable, stinking state. 1
What a fantastic picture! We come to God stinking in our sin, and God embraces us with His arms. You’re his SON! He loves you! He wants you back! Every day, He watches for your return. He knows you’re coming back, because he knows where sin will lead you (and, well, because He knows everything). He’ll take you back as many times as you return to Him.
Wallbuilder Ministries 