Foolish Children

This PW Devotional specifically talks about dads...but I think you could insert "parents" into the mix as well.

 

Ultimately, our desire should be to please the Lord God. Our heavenly Father.

 

My heart is always stirred by the account of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.  Read how the father responded upon seeing his son return, vs.20 "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him."

 

If you read earlier, the son had lost everything and was working with the pigs, eating what they ate.  The son was dirty, probably smelly and had lost everything.  In my mind, I envision a homeless person who has been living on the streets for quite some time.   The father didn't verbally reprimand the son upon his return, he "felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him."

 

Our heavenly Father is ready, eager, and willing to forgive.  It took the prodigal son coming to the end of all he had to remember his father's house and return.  That's the hard way.  Many have had to learn the hard way in foolish pursuits and willful, sinful rebellion against God.

 

Read on.
 

PlanetWisdom.com Devotionals

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Fool Week: Sad Dads Posted: 14 Mar 2010 10:00 AM PDT "To have a fool for a son brings grief; there is no joy for the father of a fool." (Proverbs 17:21) We're wrapping up Fool Week with a moment of silence for the dads of fools everywhere. They're out there right now grieving and joyless. Everybody wants their dad to be proud of them. Of course we do. It's built into us to want our dads to respect us and be glad to call us their kids. Sometimes, dads aren't great at showing that. Dads can be fools, too. But here's something students don't always ponder: Dads want to be proud of their kids, too. And it's hard to be genuinely proud of what the Bible calls a fool -- someone who has rejected God's way for his or her own path through life. That makes wise dads sad, because they know every path but God's leads to pain, heartache, and disappointment. You can't make your dad be proud of you -- that's up to him -- but you can give him (or anyone whose opinion matters to you) good reason to be proud of you by growing in wisdom, looking for it and figuring out how to live by it. Most dads want exactly that for their kids. Think: Do you tend to think of your dad as a wise person? Do you think he wants you to be wise in how you live your life? Does that matter to him? Pray: Ask God to help you to continue to grow in wisdom in a way that would give your dad -- or anyone you respect -- good reason to be proud of you. Do: Read how urgently one dad begs his kids to go out and get wisdom in Proverbs 4:1-8.

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Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.org
http://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/