And he arose, and came to his father

Luke 15:20 "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."

I don't know about all of you, but I have heard the story of the "prodigal" or "lost" son taught many times over the years. I have heard the story preached from some of the godliest men I know. I have been in Sunday School classes where it was taught. I have heard my own husband teach it several times at the Boys Ranch because it is one of his favorite Bible stories, and it is a story filled with hope. I have heard many different slants on the story from the younger son being the main focus, to the older son, being the one who is often overlooked as we study this parable.
Recently, I was reading a book, and the title of the next chapter was "A Father Like No Other"..as I began to read the chapter, I realized it was going to be teaching about the prodigal son. I hate to admit this, but I almost skipped the chapter. I truly thought that I have had so much teaching on this over the years, that there couldn't possibly be anything that has been overlooked. I really didn't think that I could learn anything more from the story.
Boy, was I wrong. As the chapter began to unfold, the story came to life for me...and I saw something that I had never seen before. The author asked the question...At what point in the story do you think the father loved the son the most? My answer would have been that he didn't love him more at one point in the story than at another point...but the author shared that when he asks that question, almost always the first answer is that it is the moment where the Father met the son on the road. Some also suggest it might be when the father gave him his inheritance and let him go. Only then does it become clear. There is no point in the story where the father loves his son more than at any other point. He loved his son completely through the whole process. That love from the Father is the only constant in the story.
The events in the story cannot be accounted for by the varying love of the father...only the varying perception of it by the son. Though he was not less loved at any point in the story, through most of the story, he lived as if he were. When he took the money from his father and left home, free to pursue his own way..he lived less loved.
When he spent this money in a foreign land, wasting it on his own pleasures, he lived less loved.
Even when he started for home, practicing his plea of repentance, and willing to be a slave, he lived less loved.
But finally, when he was home in the robe, the sandals and wearing the ring, sitting at his father's table, it seemed to sink in. He was loved...but he always had been! It was just that then he could stop living as if he weren't.
I wonder how much of our lives today are spent living "less loved". We worry that God will ask us for some difficult sacrifice..and we live "less loved". When we "fail" in some way, that we know is against the will of God..we live "less loved". When we give in to anxiety during the difficulties of our circumstances, we live "less loved". When we try to earn God's favor by our own efforts, we live "less loved". Even when we get caught up in trying to become more like Him..we live "less loved".
The truth is that God wants a relationship with you. He wants you to know how He feels about you all the time.. He wants you to know that the love He has from you isn't going to change or vary because of your circumstances.
Jesus ended the story at an interesting point. The younger son was in the house enjoying his newfound relationship with the father. The older son was still outside angry and deciding what to do. Would he come to know just how much he was loved and join the celebration, or would he remain convinced of his father's unfairness and stay angry and alone outside? The choice was his..and it is ours. Everything in our life really hinges on one question..Do you know how loved you truly are? If you don't know or aren't sure..isn't it about time you found out?