Read Luke 15:11-24.
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” (v. 24).
As heartrending and scary as our experience was (see yesterday’s devotional), it doesn’t compare to the sadness and heartbreak caused by a son who wanders away from God and ruins his life through sinful actions and addictions. Many years ago, the devil deceived a young pastor who showed a lot of promise for ministry, and caused him to leave the pastorate and turn from his faith. His mother, heartbroken, prayed faithfully for him until she died. I know the son of a pastor who, turning away from a call that God had placed upon his heart, set his sights on the wealth of this world. Both of these can be restored!
Jim Cymbala, author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, tells about his wayward daughter, Chrissy. She had been expelled from a Bible college, was concealing an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, had completely turned her back on her family, and they did not know where she was. All they and their church could do was pray. But God knew where Chrissy was and how to get her attention. Miraculously, she went home, prayed to victory, and was restored to her family. Today, she and her husband are pastoring a church in Chicago.
Like the prodigal’s father in today’s verse, the Cymbala family rejoiced that the lost one had come home. (SEH)
Let’s keep praying for the prodigals – God can restore them
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