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Have you ever had a crazy idea that you needed to be rescued from?

Luke 15:11-13, 20 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.

20 “So he returned home to his father. And 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.

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Where did you get an idea like that? Maybe you have said those words to somebody or maybe those words have been said to you. Have you ever heard of the guy that sold every pixel of a webpage? He made a million dollars doing it. Crazy ideas can be good as long as they are not morally wrong.

Jesus paints a vivid picture for us in the parable of the prodigal son, he shows us the decisions that we make and what we do and then he shows us how God reacts.

What we do to ourselves:
Approach God with selfishness Approach God with greed We separate ourselves from God We are not good stewards We lose our values We feel ashamed

The craziest idea has to be to walk away from our heavenly Father and think that the grass is greener somewhere else. We all do it, we think that if we choose our own way then things will turn out better, we think that we will have more fill in the blank. Just like a child going at it with his earthly father we do the same thing with God, we usually don't know what's good for us as much as our earthly father and we surely know a lot less than our heavenly father.

What God does for us:
Gives generously Allows us to go Waits anxiously for our return Has compassion Loves us without regrets or a grudge Celebrates our return and restoration

Need to get back home? Don't be afraid to go.

Luke 15:23-24 We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

If you moved away from home, remember that God is waiting with open arms to treat you better than you deserve, he is ready to celebrate your return. There isn't any room for grudges or revenge, the son that stayed home resented the fathers welcome to the prodigal son, he couldn't stand the celebration. We should celebrate the father's merciful attitude, after-all we have all benefited from it.