Praise God for the Corn

Luke 15:11-31 One of the chief lies of the enemy is to try to make you think that when you sin that God hates you and doesn't want anything to do with you anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is: Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." To dwell on the question: "Why or how could God love me?" is pointless. We may never know the why, the important thing is that He does. There is a difference between: assuming God's love for us and continuing in sin; and assuming God's love and seeking to draw closer to Him. In either case God loves us; but in our sin we can't appreciate it. In the story of the Prodigal Son, the son was not aware of nor did he seem to care about any love that his father may have had for him. He only knew that he had an inheritance coming and that he wanted it now so that he could go off and have a good time. He took his inheritance, cashed it out, and lived it up. The money was soon gone, along with his "friends" and he was feeding pigs. When He came to his senses, it was not out of a knowledge of his father's love; but that even his father's servants had food to eat and a place to sleep. He could go home and hire out as a servant. When he arrived home, he discovered that he had never stopped being loved, had never stopped being a son and had been waited for and longed for all during his absence. The father loved the older brother because of his hard work and faithfulness and the fact that he stayed. He loved the younger son because he returned. Most important, he loved both of them because they were his sons. The parable is a real picture of how our heavenly Father cares about us. He loves and values us because we are His children. He waits for and longs for us to come and fellowship with Him. This should be our attitude towards our children.