Read Luke 15:11-32
What makes someone a son?
Did you notice the details in this parable? The prodigal son comes to his senses and realizes how good he had it with his father. He knows he has shattered the relationship. He even rehearses a plan: he will return and ask to be treated as a hired servant.
It is easy to miss the details that reveal a father who has been waiting and watching the whole time—a father who refuses to entertain a pitch or bargain, who will not even listen to talk about becoming a hired servant. Instead, the father runs to him, embraces him, and tends to the details—a ring, a robe, sandals, the best feast. Each gift publicly declares, both to the prodigal and to the watching community, with unmistakable clarity: this man does not return as a servant, but as a son.
We often respond like the prodigal. We know we fall short. We know we are not perfect, so we hesitate to claim the relationship God desires with us. Yet we still want to stand before Him on our own terms. So we bargain. We try to negotiate a “middle ground” in our relationship with God.
Or perhaps we are more like the older son. We do not think we ever left. We believe we have worked hard enough to prove ourselves worthy of our Heavenly Father’s love.
In the end, God says, “None of that makes you My child. I make you My child.” He has declared us His children through the sacrificial death of Christ. He pours out life, forgiveness, salvation, and the Holy Spirit upon us in our baptism, making it unmistakably clear: we are His children. No deals. No bargains. No middle-ground settlements. His child.
Prayer: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before You. I am not worthy to be called Your child. Thank You for loving me, forgiving me, and making me Your child. Amen.