The Extravagant Father!

The parable of the prodigal son in the Bible is well known. We often look at it through the lens of the prodigal son, but it is more about the father.  It starts with an unreasonable request from the son. "Father, give me my share of the estate." (Luke 15:12, NIV) It is customary that the estate of the father passes to his sons only after the death of the father. For the son to ask for this while his father was alive points to the inconsiderate and self-centered nature of the son.  For the father to give it speaks of the his extravagant love and generosity.

Some may ask, why did the father give in to the request of the son? Well, It is the love of the father, and his magnanimity that motivated him. He was willing to allow his son to find his way in life. Knowing how the story ends, one might even say, he was willing to allow his son to make his mistakes and learn his lessons, before returning home to a forgiving and accepting father. 

The son spent and wasted all his inheritance in a few years. The impression we have from the parable is that the father was a very wealthy man. The share of the inheritance the prodigal son took must have been enough to last him a life time twice over. But he squandered all his wealth "in wild living" in a few years. Things got so bad that he could not hold down a job. He became homeless and was not even allowed to eat the pigs food in the pig farm where he worked, with pay that could not buy him enough food to eat.

When he came to his senses, he reasoned that if he returned home, things won't be as bad as they are for him. He thought he had lost his position as a son, but at least he could be hired as a servant. His father's servants fares better than his current situation. 

His father sees him from afar, ran towards him, threw his arms around him and kissed him. He must have been looking out for him constantly. He never forgot about him. Though his son forgot about the father all the time he still had money, his father never forgot. The father received him, not as a servant but has a son. His full rights reinstated. He would still have a share in his father's estate after his death. 

This is merely a picture of how our heavenly Father is. He is generous. From creation, he lavishly gives us all we need for a good life. He wants us close to him and He wants us to continually enjoy the blessings of His kingdom. When we choose to go our own way, far away from Him, He does not force us to remain with Him, even though He could. He allows us to choose our own path, but does not fail to warn us of the dangers of following our own evil desires. 

When we've made a proper mess of our lives, He stands ready to receive us with open arms. All the while we were deep in our sins, He keeps watch over us, calling, longing for us to "come to our senses." And more remarkably, when we come back to Him, He restores us to the full status of "sonship". Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2, KJV)

This Father's Day, let's all be like our heavenly Father. Let's learn from His generosity. Let's forgive, let's be magnanimous. Fathers, let's not fail our children, let's show them the love we perhaps didn't receive from our earthly fathers. And if you had an earthly father like I had, who was as perfect as humanly possible, let's aim to be as perfect to our children, so they can also be good fathers, good parents. We need more Fathers like God, to make this world a better place. As a start, let's fall into His loving embrace today.