The women's Bible Study that I am in is going through the book of Luke this year. A couple of weeks ago we got to the story of the prodigal son. It is a multi-layered story that is not just about a wayward son coming back home after things get tough, but a much deeper lesson about someone who is humbled by life, and realizes in the end that his father really wanted the best for him and treated him with love. There is also the second son who is resentful of the fact that his father welcomes his brother back after blowing all his inheritance. Both of these young men are worth contemplating, and asking yourself, "Which one am I?"  The prodigal son that wants to do things his way and does not want to be weighed down by the expectations of the father, or am I like the son who dutifully does what is right to please the father, and resents that others get entry into the father's house without working for it like I have.  Maybe you are neither.

One that that is for certain.  God seeks you out.  He wants to have a relationship with all of us, but will let us go our own way if that is what we want.  He also does not expect us to work hard for our salvation.  He paid the price with his only Son.  He is worth getting to know, and you will find that instead of adding a burden, He carries your burdens for you.  I hope you enjoy Max's take on the timeless story. 

- Sandy

God Runs Toward You - Max Lucado

Brighten your day by envisioning God running toward you.
When his patriarchs trusted, God blessed. When Peter preached or Paul wrote or Thomas believed, God smiled. But he never ran.
That verb was reserved for the story of the prodigal son. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20 NKJV)
God runs when he sees the son coming home from the pig trough. When the addict steps out of the alley. When the teen walks away from the party. When the ladder-climbing executive pushes back from the desk, the spiritist turns from idols, the materialist from stuff, the atheist from disbelief, and the elitist from self-promotion…
When prodigals trudge up the path, God can’t sit still. Heaven’s throne room echoes with the sound of slapping sandals and pounding feet, and angels watch in silence as God embraces his child.
You turn toward God, and he runs toward you.