A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” So he divided to them his livelihood. Luke 15:11, 12. (Read Luke 15:11-32.)
It was to answer the accusation of the scribes and Pharisees to the effect that Jesus chose the companionship of sinners that He spake the parables concerning the lost sheep, the lost silver, and the prodigal son, and in these presentations showed that His mission to the world was not to make miserable, not to condemn and destroy, but to recover that which was lost…. These were the very ones that needed a Savior….
The prodigal son was not a dutiful son, not one who would please his father, but one who desired his own way…. The tender sympathy and love of his father were misinterpreted, and the more patient, kind, and benevolent the father acted, the more restless the son became. He thought his liberty was restricted, for his idea of liberty was wild license, and as he craved to be independent of all authority, he broke loose from all the restraint of his father’s house, and soon spent his fortune in riotous living. A great famine arose in the country in which he sojourned, and in his hunger he would fain have filled himself with the husks that the swine did eat….
He had no one now to say: “Do not do that, for you will do injury to yourself. Do this, because it is right.” … Starvation stared him in the face, and he joined himself to a citizen of the place. He was sent to do the most menial of work—to feed the swine. Although this to a Jew was the most disreputable of callings, yet he was willing to do anything, so great was his need….
He is suffering keen hunger, and cannot fill his want, and, under these circumstances he remembers that his father has bread enough and to spare, and resolves to go to his father…. Having made this decision, he does not wait to make himself more respectable…. “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.” …
The home looks just as it did when he left it; but what a difference there is in himself…. The father does not give him a chance to say, “Make me as one of thy hired servants.” The welcome he receives assures him that he is reinstated to the place of son.—Signs of the Times, January 29, 1894.
From the Heart p. 127
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Prayer Requests
—-update and request—Harley came through his pacemaker fine. He went home and told his mother that he needed to go to the hospital. His chest felt like it was on fire. The hospital said that he may have to go to a bigger hospital out of town. M
—-Please pray for our president. Jerry
—-I am asking for your prayers right now for my dad, Larry. His condition has taken a serious turn today. He is running a high fever and his blood pressure has dropped significantly. The doctors are moving him into the ICU at this moment. Aaron
—-My son is in a psychiatric hospital with extreme paranoia. Please pray for him Anonymous
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Dear Friends,
When my grandfather, Ed Harmon, moved to Washington, DC to learn the bookbinding trade, he fell in love with a beautiful, young lady by the name of Rose Muderspach. She returned his love. They were quite the opposite in many ways. He had many “rough edges” from all the years he spent as a hobo wandering up and down the East Coast; yet his heart was tender and he craved someone to really care for him. She was beautiful inside as well as outside and could have won the affections of any of the young men in the area; but she looked past Ed’s roughness and saw the softness within.
Sadly, sometime after they started courting, Rose contracted tuberculosis and died. All of Ed’s hopes and dreams died with her. All of their plans came to an end. He was devastated. He thought that he could not go on. Everything around him reminded him of her. As soon as he finished his apprenticeship with the Review and Herald Publishing Association, he left the area. Unfortunately, he never again found someone that could take the place of his first love.
Just as my grandfather lost his first love through her death, so we can lose our first love through carelessness that causes us our spiritual life flicker and die, and we settle for a lesser relationship. Our religion then becomes only an unsatisfying routine, yet we hold onto it and assure ourselves that all is well. (Matt 7:21-27)
God’s Holy Word speaks of this losing of our first love. In His message to the seven churches, our Dear Saviour says, “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Rev 2:1-5
How our Loving Saviour yearns for us to return to that first love experience. He pleads, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.” Mal 3:7 With tears in His eyes, He laments. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:8 “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11
May we, therefore, be diligent to keep our love for God alive, to put Him first in our life, to center our thoughts and affections upon Him, to commune with Him, to meditate upon His goodness, to so live that others will be drawn to His Great Heart of Love is my prayer. Amen.
Rose
