Luke 15:17-20 (NIVUK)
17 ‘When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” 20 So he got up and went to his father.
Having wasted his father’s generosity, and found himself in trouble, the son ‘comes to his senses’. Is this a genuine realisation that he has done his father wrong? Or is it more a case of realising he’s been stupid and is in trouble? It reads more like the latter to me, his apology feels more like a rehearsed apology someone might give when they’re told they must apologise, than a genuine expression of remorse. Perhaps this is a true reflection of our own confessions, if we’re honest, our own apologies usually come from mixed motives, which makes God’s forgiveness all the more remarkable.
Thank you Father that your love is bigger than our sin and self-centred apologies.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash
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