Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Mic 7:14-15,18-20
Lk 15:1-3,11-32
“…he was lost and is found.”
I love the story of the Prodigal Son. There are two things to consider. One is the elder brother — a reminder of how we sometimes feel — jealous, shortchanged, unrecognised or slighted when we see someone else seemingly favoured when she/he has been living a sinful life, squandering all her/his blessings, being unfaithful all her/his life until now. I’m sure it hits even the best of us. We may have been diligent and faithful, doing good, being obedient to God’s will, etc. yet, we doubt, and begin to question God’s fairness. We didn’t see with God’s eyes of love, but with our own limitations of conditional love instead.
This parable is trying to tell us how much our Father in heaven loves us. How much? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) We may be able to remember this scripture by heart, but do we truly understand the extent of God’s love and know what it really means? It may not be so easy to understand, so Jesus tells it like the father who eagerly showers the prodigal son with the best robe, jewels and sandals, as well as the fattened calf to celebrate his return. God is, in fact, so eager to forgive us our sins, to welcome back those who have been ‘dead’ or ‘lost’ so that we can quickly be ‘alive’ or ‘found’, be reconciled with God, and become part of his family again.
Last month, there was the reading from Genesis about Adam and Eve, and this sentence: “The Lord God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked” (Genesis 3:9-24) really struck me. I have read this scripture passage so many times about the fall of Adam and Eve, but it felt like the first time my eyes were opened just like theirs were, after eating from the tree of life. That question from Abba Father no longer feels strange, but rather, coming from so much love, like that of a parent looking for their child.
The question for us today is “Where are we in life right now?” God is constantly seeking for his children to return to him, but so many are ‘wilful’ and do not feel they need their Father in heaven. This is how I see it. The temptations and all the ‘glittery’ things of this world are drawing many of us further away. No thanks to the serpent that God cursed; “Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life.” Notice that God didn’t curse Adam and Eve, but like all naughty and disobedient children, we must learn its consequences. So ‘punishment’ must be meted out. Hence, this is why women suffer “pains in childbearing, you shall give birth to your children in pain. Your yearning shall be for your husband, yet he will lord it over you.” While for the man, because he “listened to the voice of (your) wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat,‘Accursed be the soil because of you. With suffering shall you get your food from it every day of your life.” (Genesis 3:9-24) Man shall toil for his food. There’s no free pass or ticket in life. Basically, we learn the consequences of our actions.
Let us keep seeking Jesus and asking him to show us how much our Father loves us, so that we can feel secure and not ever feel the need to be jealous or second best again.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Cynthia Chew)
Prayer: Dear Jesus, let us be found and never be lost again. May our hearts be full of your love so that there’s no room for doubts and always be safe in your loving embrace. Amen
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Jesus for loving us – even when we don’t know you, and even when we reject you.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment