Jim Burns Homeword Daily Devotional for Parenting and Christian Family

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HomeWord - Jan. 13, 2009

Just As You Are 
This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden

"‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."  Luke 15:32 

There is a woman who abandoned her children.  A boyfriend promised her a new kind of future, but the kids couldn’t come.  She hesitated for a second, then left.

There is a high society woman.  On the outside it looks like she has it all together, but she hides a secret. She is an adulterer and a thief.

There is a murderer.  He sits in his cell, living out his life sentence.

There is a man.  He is out of work.  He got caught stealing from his company.  It is hard to find anyone who will trust him enough to hire him.

What about us?  We all can fill in the blanks of the ways you’ve fallen short.  We don’t need anyone else to tell us.  We know ourselves better than anyone else.

So whom did Jesus come for?  All of us: His prodigal children.  He came so that we could all find freedom and hope in Him.  This is great news: We can’t be too bad to walk into His arms.  We can’t do anything to make God love us any less…He loves each of us unconditionally.  And like the prodigal son, when we open our eyes and realize we need our Father, no matter what we have done, He is there.  He accepts us with His arms open.

It can be hard to acknowledge the love and grace that Jesus extends to us.  But if you feel like you are too bad to go before Jesus, or too bad to walk into a church, that is all about you, not about Jesus.  Jesus says, “Come just as you are.”  He will make you whole and He will make you clean.

Going Deeper: 

  1. Which is harder to accept, that you have bits of the prodigal son in you or that God forgives you and loves you completely no matter what you’ve done?  Why? 
  2. To whom in your life do you need to extend grace, just as the father did for his son? 

Further Reading: Luke 14:15-24; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Kelly McFadden works with HomeWord’s radio broadcast and content teams. She and her husband Michael are the new parents of Campbell McFadden. 

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