By Elder Ephraim of Arizona
Our God is love and "he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." Any Christian who does not have the love of God in his heart does not have the life of Christ in his soul. This great work of God's philanthropy, for God to come down, for the Word of God to become man, to take flesh, to dwell among us, to draw near to us, was nothing but the infinite philanthropy of divine love. God's love is what protects us and takes care of us for everything. We humans sin and grieve God. We often disrespect, but His philanthropy is infinite and He forgives all. All of us, including me first, have grieved this great heart of God, which is called love for man. That is why we should be careful in our life, and then not to give Him the bitterness of sin again.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son described in the Holy Gospel is the most perfect example possible of God the Father’s love for sinful man. We see the prodigal son, who represents every sinful person on the earth, asking his father for his entitled portion of the inheritance.
Of course, his decision to take his share and distance himself from his paternal home, fatherly love, and filial protection was extremely unwise and imprudent. He departed believing that he, on his own, would be capable of caring for himself; however, he paid a heavy price for his foolishness.
As our Holy Gospel describes, this prodigal son squandered his entire fortune by living an extremely sinful life. Sin, however, gives rise to death: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The payment of sin is death of the soul, although oftentimes it becomes the cause of physical death as well. After the prodigal son squandered his entire inheritance, he was reduced to herding pigs and living off dry husks.
Something similar happens to man. When a Christian receives the wealth of God’s grace through holy baptism but later severs all ties with God the Father and alienates himself from this grace, he ends up becoming a vessel of the devil and sin, living “in prodigality” far from God and constantly wallowing in one sin after another. Nonetheless, as the parable states, the prodigal son came to his senses at some point and realized his mistake. Evidently, up until then he was not completely sane, he was devoid of logic, understanding, and prudence.
He came to his senses, recounts our Christ, and he thought to himself, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” (Lk. 15:17). “I am perishing here in a foreign land. It is better for me to go back. I won’t ask my father to refer to me as his son any longer because I am unworthy of this title. I will ask him to group me with his employees and servants. They enjoy such a good life there; it will be enough for me to become like one of them. I don’t have the courage to ask him to take me back as a son because I have lost the dignity of sonship. I squandered my father’s inheritance; now it is enough for me to return and become one of his servants.”
These and many other similar thoughts were racing through his mind when he decided to begin his journey home. Even before he set out, his father was standing outside the house, waiting for him lovingly with an open embrace. This is how much God is ready to accept every sinful person.
The prodigal son started his journey homeward. He took the “straight path,” the road leading to salvation, and he arrived at his family home. His father immediately accepted him. He hugged him, kissed him, and wept over him. The prodigal son was also crying and began to stammer, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Lk. 15:21).
How did the father respond? “Forget everything! No matter what you’ve done! The fact that you have returned is enough for me. It is sufficient for me that you came home. You were dead and you came back to life; you were lost and have been found. This suffices. Forget about your sins, your mistakes, and the fortune you wasted. Forget everything!”
At once, he ordered that his son be bathed. After he was washed, he dressed him with the brilliant garment of sonship, and placed a ring on his finger. All of a sudden everything changed. He was a grubby shepherd of swine, but as soon as he returned, he instantly became a child of God, a son of the King, and was adorned in brilliance. He wasn’t expecting such a thing. His father showed so much compassion and love. “What vanity I had, and how much was I deceived,” thought the prodigal son, “when I was living away from my father.” Finally, his father commanded that the fatted calf be slaughtered, and that a great celebration commence on account of his prodigal son’s return. The festivities began.
Everything was shining in the father’s palace. Overjoyed and elated, the father was delighting in his son’s return. The son was awestruck before this unexpected miracle of his salvation. This is a small sample of the actual love that God has for sinful man. Our Heavenly Father is always ready—from the moment a person repents, asks for forgiveness, and seeks to return to a pure way of life—to forgive and forget everything. All that is required is for man to come to his senses; that is, to acknowledge his mistakes, to humble his mindset, to acknowledge that he has erred, and to ask for forgiveness. Then God will assure him, “Forget everything, my child. It is enough for Me that you returned. I forgive everything; it is enough that you came back to Me again.”
However, man’s enemy (the devil) comes and—with his immense slyness, deceit, and craftiness—whispers the following into the ears of the sinner: “God will not forgive you; you are extremely sinful. You have committed many crimes. A severe punishment and hell is in store for you. Don’t even think of approaching God. You are unworthy of raising your eyes to pray and ask for forgiveness. God is angry! …” He suggests these and many other such things.
The sinful person should not believe any of this. The instant a child returns from a life of sin and prodigality, even if he had previously cursed, pushed, or hit his parents, his mother and father will immediately embrace him, forgive him, and overlook all his insolent behavior. It suffices that their child came home full of remorsefulness. If a mother who is endowed with a loving human heart—which is incomparably smaller than the love of God—shows such forgiveness and compassion to her child who had strayed away when he returns, how much more forgiveness and mercy will God bestow, Who possesses infinite love and compassion!
We must completely ignore the whispers of the rebellious devil. He is unable to learn humility; this is why he will forever remain distanced from God. As soon as humility nestles into a person’s mindset, simultaneously his return begins. Egotism and pride are the evils that separate us from God. If we contemplate the parable of the prodigal son with our heart and mind, we will constantly harvest repentance and return, and we will enrich our soul with the love of God. We will perceive that our God is a tender Father Who possesses love without measure. We cannot go wrong with this type of love.
No matter how much the devil whispers to us that God will not forgive us because we committed many crimes during our lifetime, when we see the face of our Heavenly Father mirrored in the parable of the prodigal son, all the demonic thoughts will immediately be dispersed.
Source
The Parable of the Prodigal Son described in the Holy Gospel is the most perfect example possible of God the Father’s love for sinful man. We see the prodigal son, who represents every sinful person on the earth, asking his father for his entitled portion of the inheritance.
Of course, his decision to take his share and distance himself from his paternal home, fatherly love, and filial protection was extremely unwise and imprudent. He departed believing that he, on his own, would be capable of caring for himself; however, he paid a heavy price for his foolishness.
As our Holy Gospel describes, this prodigal son squandered his entire fortune by living an extremely sinful life. Sin, however, gives rise to death: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The payment of sin is death of the soul, although oftentimes it becomes the cause of physical death as well. After the prodigal son squandered his entire inheritance, he was reduced to herding pigs and living off dry husks.
Something similar happens to man. When a Christian receives the wealth of God’s grace through holy baptism but later severs all ties with God the Father and alienates himself from this grace, he ends up becoming a vessel of the devil and sin, living “in prodigality” far from God and constantly wallowing in one sin after another. Nonetheless, as the parable states, the prodigal son came to his senses at some point and realized his mistake. Evidently, up until then he was not completely sane, he was devoid of logic, understanding, and prudence.
He came to his senses, recounts our Christ, and he thought to himself, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” (Lk. 15:17). “I am perishing here in a foreign land. It is better for me to go back. I won’t ask my father to refer to me as his son any longer because I am unworthy of this title. I will ask him to group me with his employees and servants. They enjoy such a good life there; it will be enough for me to become like one of them. I don’t have the courage to ask him to take me back as a son because I have lost the dignity of sonship. I squandered my father’s inheritance; now it is enough for me to return and become one of his servants.”
These and many other similar thoughts were racing through his mind when he decided to begin his journey home. Even before he set out, his father was standing outside the house, waiting for him lovingly with an open embrace. This is how much God is ready to accept every sinful person.
The prodigal son started his journey homeward. He took the “straight path,” the road leading to salvation, and he arrived at his family home. His father immediately accepted him. He hugged him, kissed him, and wept over him. The prodigal son was also crying and began to stammer, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Lk. 15:21).
How did the father respond? “Forget everything! No matter what you’ve done! The fact that you have returned is enough for me. It is sufficient for me that you came home. You were dead and you came back to life; you were lost and have been found. This suffices. Forget about your sins, your mistakes, and the fortune you wasted. Forget everything!”
At once, he ordered that his son be bathed. After he was washed, he dressed him with the brilliant garment of sonship, and placed a ring on his finger. All of a sudden everything changed. He was a grubby shepherd of swine, but as soon as he returned, he instantly became a child of God, a son of the King, and was adorned in brilliance. He wasn’t expecting such a thing. His father showed so much compassion and love. “What vanity I had, and how much was I deceived,” thought the prodigal son, “when I was living away from my father.” Finally, his father commanded that the fatted calf be slaughtered, and that a great celebration commence on account of his prodigal son’s return. The festivities began.
Everything was shining in the father’s palace. Overjoyed and elated, the father was delighting in his son’s return. The son was awestruck before this unexpected miracle of his salvation. This is a small sample of the actual love that God has for sinful man. Our Heavenly Father is always ready—from the moment a person repents, asks for forgiveness, and seeks to return to a pure way of life—to forgive and forget everything. All that is required is for man to come to his senses; that is, to acknowledge his mistakes, to humble his mindset, to acknowledge that he has erred, and to ask for forgiveness. Then God will assure him, “Forget everything, my child. It is enough for Me that you returned. I forgive everything; it is enough that you came back to Me again.”
However, man’s enemy (the devil) comes and—with his immense slyness, deceit, and craftiness—whispers the following into the ears of the sinner: “God will not forgive you; you are extremely sinful. You have committed many crimes. A severe punishment and hell is in store for you. Don’t even think of approaching God. You are unworthy of raising your eyes to pray and ask for forgiveness. God is angry! …” He suggests these and many other such things.
The sinful person should not believe any of this. The instant a child returns from a life of sin and prodigality, even if he had previously cursed, pushed, or hit his parents, his mother and father will immediately embrace him, forgive him, and overlook all his insolent behavior. It suffices that their child came home full of remorsefulness. If a mother who is endowed with a loving human heart—which is incomparably smaller than the love of God—shows such forgiveness and compassion to her child who had strayed away when he returns, how much more forgiveness and mercy will God bestow, Who possesses infinite love and compassion!
We must completely ignore the whispers of the rebellious devil. He is unable to learn humility; this is why he will forever remain distanced from God. As soon as humility nestles into a person’s mindset, simultaneously his return begins. Egotism and pride are the evils that separate us from God. If we contemplate the parable of the prodigal son with our heart and mind, we will constantly harvest repentance and return, and we will enrich our soul with the love of God. We will perceive that our God is a tender Father Who possesses love without measure. We cannot go wrong with this type of love.
No matter how much the devil whispers to us that God will not forgive us because we committed many crimes during our lifetime, when we see the face of our Heavenly Father mirrored in the parable of the prodigal son, all the demonic thoughts will immediately be dispersed.
Source