Gospel Reflections #414: God is waiting with a welcome feast for you

Luke 15:32 “’But that brother of yours was dead and he came back to life. He was gone, and now he has been found. Is it not natural to feast and enjoy and rejoice?"

Parents rejoice when any child, no matter what he or she is, comes back to life or is found.

But some, like the older brother of the prodigal son, may not rejoice in his brother's return. Like the elder brother, we tend to compare ourselves with others.

At such times, we only look at ourselves and do not notice what others around us have done for us.

Somewhere along the way, we set our own standards for ourselves as "good people.

But when circumstances change, we begin to see things that we did not see before.

The prodigal son experienced this.

He was able to realize how his parents had treated him.

The father of the prodigal son had the same love for the older brother as he did for the younger brother.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to come back to Him no matter how long it takes, and He will have a feast in heaven each time we return.

Our God not only waits for us to come back, but also seeks us out Himself.

He has been searching for us for many years and working on us even when we don't realize it. And when we notice God's work, He rushes toward us, covers us with His garments, and shouts with joy, "My child has returned!and then he shouts with joy, "My child is back!

We want to slowly and deliberately engage with this kind of God and share our joy with Him.

God created the Sabbath for this joy, for sharing joy, for feasting and rejoicing with us, and God is happy to be with us every week.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.