Thursday 6/19/14
He had been in a safe, sheltered, and seemingly uneventful environment all his life. One day, however, his life would take an extremely different turn. I personally believe someone in his family or circle of friends blew some smoke in his direction and he quickly and excitedly swallowed the bait. They convinced him that his life really was too vanilla and that he should get his part of the inheritance in advance and go out into the world to, as an old, old, song said, “live, love, laugh and be happy.” Though I believe it was grudgingly and with a heavy heart, his father complied with his wishes and the young man quickly set out on his journey to become “the king of the world.” For the first time in his life, there were no restrictions. He lived it up and had some great times with his friends, that is, until his money ran out. Before long, he was all alone with no money, no friends, and no job, and soon realized that vanilla had not been too bad after all. (Note: Guess which ice cream flavor is still the one most people prefer? Yep, its vanilla.) When he descended to the lowest and emptiest stage of his life, he finally told himself: “I’ve had enough; I’m going to do something about it.” This was his plan: I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. (Luke 15:18-19) Happily, he followed through with his plan and you all know the rest.
One of you who is reading this blog today, has arrived at a similar cross point. You’re already convinced that you too have had enough and need to do something about it. You know you’ve been headed in the wrong direction for some time now and need to turn around. Up to now, though, you’ve done nothing about it. Well, I trust that today is the day you decide you’re not going to take it anymore, that you’re going to take action. Perhaps, in your case it involves your family or loved ones, your marriage, career, future, weight, health or well being? Or it may be something even more important like making restitution, forgiving someone, asking to be forgiven, or even getting right with God. C’mon now. If you’re ever going to do it, why not today?
Memory Verse for the week: (Ephesians 4:32) Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as, in Christ, God forgave you.
