| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 36 |
Page 7 |
The son began his confession — a confession he had studied out carefully before he left the far country. He did not ask to be received back as a son, but only as one of the hired servants. Did his father take him at his word and give him a place among the servants? No, he took him back into a son’s position. The ring, the robe, the shoes, were all tokens of honor. Then a feast was made. All this is an expression of the love of God for His children who come back to Him in penitence even from their farthest wanderings.
There is one thing we must not overlook in studying this story. It must not be forgotten that, though God forgives and restores, the prodigal never can be as he would have been if he had not gone to the far country. Sin is a terrible thing.
“Are you afraid to die?” asked a visitor of a man who lay on his deathbed, one who had lived a prodigal’s life, returning to Christ only in time to die. The man was now grieving, and his friend said to him, “Why, you are not afraid to die, are you?” “No,” said the dying man, “I am not afraid to die; but I am ashamed to die. God has done so much for me, and I have done nothing at all for Him.”
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