Kelly Matson

To be completely honest, today in my reading plan I was pretty bored. It was on Exodus 26 when God is in the middle of giving Moses instructions on His tabernacle, and before that it was His plans for the Ark of the Covenant. I was growing tired and uninterested.

Why do I need to know about how long the table was supposed to be? (36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high, in case you were wondering). I was becoming frustrated from not seeing the point of all this when all of a sudden it hit me…

God cares about the details.

These chapters remind me of myself.

When I think back to instructions I give when I have a volunteer come into the office and help, I have a certain way of doing things. Suzie (my friend, mentor and coworker) informed me I have an A type personality which shocked me… other people weren’t so shocked.

I am made in His image.

Of course there are details I need to let go of control of (because I am not God), but I am who God made me to be and He can use the details that I care about for His glory. I struggle with OCD but I am not a victim to it. When I get down on my knees daily and ask Him for help when things “just aren’t right”, I know He sympathizes with me and that brings us closer in relationship with one another.

I like to think that God is obsessed with me. I can just imagine Him thinking up all my details when He made me in my mother’s womb; that I would have more olive skin and that I would be freakishly short compared to my mom so she could always call me her little girl. And that I would have a hard time learning to read because all I wanted to do was run around constantly and knock into things because I had to be on my tippy toes. He took the time to think through everything about me, which means He must love me a lot. I can’t help but love Him in return.

Be the Church Sunday is coming up on November 6th.  The theme is Coming Home based off the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Coming home is a familiar topic to me because just a month ago I had to come home and ask my parents if they will take me in.  Now I hadn’t spent all my money on cheap thrills and pleasures of the flesh… but I did have to humble myself in asking if they would make room for me. 

The passage is a simple yet difficult passage to live out in our lives:

 Luke 15:11-32

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Lost Son

 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

   13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

   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.

   “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

   21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

   22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

   25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

   28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

   31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

  When you read this story, what stands out to you?  Which character do you relate to?  The Younger Brother who was caught up in the world and then came back to the father?  Or are you the Older Brother, having always done the right thing but is bitter because you don’t get rewarded for it?  I think it’s safe to say most people might find it difficult to relate to the father because of his instant forgiveness and joy he had for someone who had disgraced his Name.

  I have lived most of my life like the Older Son in this story.  My brother was the rebel child and battled drugs and alcoholism from his late teens through his early twenties.   I dabbled in rebellious ways for a time but wasn’t good at it and frankly I’m too much of a control freak to be “bad”.  My brother lived his sins outwardly whereas mine remained hidden, tucked inside, quietly strangling my heart.  At times I was so bitter because I stayed relatively out of trouble and every time my brother messed up my parents were there to bail him out. 

  Looking back I can now see my parents were just doing the best they knew how.  My brother and I both overheard countless conversations and arguments about what to do with him.  I heard him getting attention and he heard me being thought of  as I was the princess.

  The point is, my heart was ugly and I mistakenly thought my deeds should determine my worth.  But God didn’t pay our debt so that we could try to earn our salvation.  What’s done is done. He cares that we want to glorify him simply because we love him and not what we can get from him.  Same with my parents… I should have known that they loved me regardless of my behavior (although it was easier on them if I behaved!)

  This is a story of two brothers living in bondage. 

  The Younger Brother living in the world, fulfilling every fleshly desire he had, not having a care in the world. 

  The Older Brother living in such a way that he will never be satisfied because he is not perfect.

  Jesus told this story back then and for us today for a reason.  I believe Jesus was referring to the Tax Collectors as the Younger Brother, the Pharisees and Religious Leaders as the Older Brother, and God as the Waiting Father.  The Tax Collectors couldn’t get enough money and would do whatever it takes to get more.  They were greedy and selfish.  The Pharisees and Religious Leaders followed the rules to a tee.  They were busy pointing at others and never looked at themselves.  They were proud and self-glorifying. 

  But the Father loved both sons.  Jesus died once for all.  The Father ran out to meet the younger son while he was still in the distance. 

Jesus is waiting to run out for you also.  The Father never gave up.  For the Father to run out to his son, he must have been waiting and ready, expectant to welcome his son back.  The Father also noticed when his Older Son was not participating in the celebration.  The Father wanted both of his sons.

  What are you waiting for?  What is holding you back from knowing true freedom in the Father?  What are you currently in bondage to?  We can return to our Father in Heaven exactly as we are.  The younger son came to him smelling like the pigs, and the older son came to him with fire in his eyes.  True acceptance from the Father has no conditions. We can never be fully accepted by the world and we can never be perfect. 

  There is freedom in repentance.  Galatians 5:1 tells us “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  God loves you.  Don’t tie yourself up when he has provided a way that leads to an abundant life.

  What are you waiting for?  Drop whatever you’re doing.  It’s time to come home.

      My good friend Ana wrote a song about the Father’s love for us.  Please listen here: http://www.box.net/shared/vn7qvr60t4is38tovkfc