Gods Plan A
A young man squandered his inheritance on wild living and prostitutes. During a famine, he came to his senses and reasoned, Even my father’s hired hands have enough to eat. I know what I’ll do. I will go back to my father and say to him,
Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of
being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant. (Luke 15:1819)
This was his Plan B. So in desperation he rehearsed his speech and started for home. Then something unexpected happened.
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. (verse 20)
Then the son started to tell his father the speech he had prepared: “Father, I have
sinned against both heaven and you” and the rest of it.
But the father had his servants give him fresh clothes and prepare a welcome-home feast to celebrate the return of his son. He explained,
For this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found. (verse 24)
I want you to notice something in this familiar parable about the love of God our
Father. The Bible says that the father in the story was filled with loving compassion, ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. But notice that this happened before the son ever spoke. In other words, the father’s love was not conditioned on what the son said. Before the son ever spoke, the father lavished his love on his son.
You see, the father didn’t have a Plan B. What he did have was another Plan A.
Excerpted from Becoming a Man Alive by Patrick Morley
Daily Reflection:
Has God ever replaced your Plan B with another Plan A? How?