Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #11

In Luke 15, we have seen Jesus give three pictures of God's joy over lost sinners with the shepherd finding 1 sheep of his 100 who got lost, the woman finding 1 of her 10 coins which was lost, and finally the father who had 1 of his 2 sons who had went astray return home. Everyone was happy - well, almost:

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Most of us can understand this brother's feelings: he was faithful; he had worked hard every day; his brother had gotten his part of the inheritance and then shamed the family name; why should he get to get any more to eat and be treated like the hero? We struggle with the idea that just because someone else is given grace and treated well, that does not mean we have lost out. There is more than enough in God's household for us to have more than we need, and for us to be secure in both our relationship and our future with the Father. We do not have to compare; in fact, we should not. If we are confident in our own relationship with God, we should not feel any loss when love is expressed to the lost. Then we understand the heart of God.