I Don't Deserve to be Called Your Son

 The miracle of salvation occurs when we realize our sinful condition, and we turn away from those sins. At the same time as being sorry for our sins and repenting of them, we cast ourselves upon the mercy of the Father, because we realize we are helpless to save ourselves. We trust Jesus as the only one who can forgive our sins, and in humility we surrender to Him as Lord. Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is a great expression of these truths. (Luke 15:18,19) The Prodigal decides to return to his father and say that he had sinned against God and before his father, so that he did not deserve to be called his son. He humbles himself to ask if he could be one of his father's hired hands, and thereby be able to live in his household. What a marvelous picture of salvation!

None of us is ever saved from our sins without being so convicted of our sins that we grieve over what our sins have done to hurt God and other people. This godly sorrow for our sins leads us to repentance for our sins. We realize that the wages of sin is death, so we do not want to hurt the Lord or others any more. At the same time we know that we can't do anything to take away our sins. All we can do is go to the Father and plead for mercy. God, who has been waiting for us all along, is quick to embrace us.  When we do that the Holy Spirit shows us that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to show God we are serious, so that God takes away our sins by His grace, as a free gift. Then, we know we don't deserve to be called God's child, but He adopts us into His family and gives us eternal life. Because of our pure faith in Jesus, we follow Him as Lord of our life forever, trusting Him every day all the way to heaven. Isn't God good! Give Him all the praise and honor He deserves!

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Luke 16-18.