Little Messages with Big Impact
This is one of the most revealing pictures of the love of God in all of Scripture. Jesus tells a story where the father does what no dignified man of his culture would ever do. He runs. He runs toward a son who had wasted his inheritance, dishonored his name, and walked away in rebellion. This is not restrained affection. This is extravagant love.
God’s love does not place us on probation. It places us in a family. The language of Scripture is intentional here, we are not described as hired servants trying to earn approval, but as sons and daughters who belong. Adoption means chosen, accepted, and given full access, not tolerated at a distance.
Love did not begin with us. It did not start with our obedience, our repentance, or our pursuit of God. Love began with God Himself. Before we ever thought about Him, before we ever reached for Him, before we ever responded, He had already set His love upon us. This is the foundation of our faith, God is not reacting to our love, He is the source of it.