Friends in Christ Message for March 13, 2010

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Friends in Christ Weekly Message
March 13, 2010

The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, “Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!”
His father said, “Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours - but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!”
Luke 15:28-32 (Message*)

It's so easy to be a “good Christian”, doing all the right things, and yet not be operating out of the way of love that Christ shows us. It's easy to think we've earned special privileges by not doing the obvious sins, and to want others who have made obvious mistakes to be forever beneath us in status. Jesus here shows us that this way of living misses the point. This way of living doesn't even appreciate the blessings of living the way God wants.

God's way is to celebrate when someone who's been living wrong repents and seeks to find his/her way back to Kingdom living. God yearns for everyone to find the abundance of life that God offers. It doesn't matter one's status or the way one has lived. The only thing that is important is what is in the heart now.

We need to look at our lives and see if our hearts are really aligned with the way of Christ.

Bill Samuel