God Sooooooooooooooo Loved..... and Still Loves

It is great that Resurrection Sunday celebrations come at the same time as the arrival of spring. Could it be God planned it that way? I love the early days of spring, it is so enlivening! Just maybe God wanted to surround us with everything He could to maximize the meaning of the resurrection.

God is a forgiving Father, He proves it over and over. There's an outstanding parable in Luke 15:11-32. Many call it 'The Parable of The Prodigal (lost) Son'. It really should be called 'The Parable of the Forgiving Father' because that is the point of the whole parable. In that story, the father never stopped loving his son, it is just that the son had put himself out and away from father so that he could not participate in the benefits of that love.

God gave us all free will and despite what happens in some 'religious' circles, God does not force by fear and compulsion. God continues to loves us and the joy of that is that every second we have the option of running straight back into his arms when we realize worldly attraction is not what it is cracked up to be.

The 'prodigal' son probably had a lot of rethinking to do, but the number one thing he had to realize is that his father loved him. That big hug was genuine! God did a lot of loving in Genesis and Exodus despite the lack of believing and missteps that are written about there. God loved those griping, impatient and rebellious people. The Old Testament is  filled with the grace and love of God that when we read it we can't help but see the true nature of God despite the hollywood  and hellfire and damnation versions of His nature.

The other son in the story exemplifies some 'religious' attitudes towards what was going on too. He needed a hug too.  I love the last two verses of the parable because it balances it all out as only a loving and gracious God can do:

³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. ³² It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:31-32)