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Reflection #2: The Father’s Desire (Tuesday, March 20)

A Heart for the Harvest starts with understanding how much God loves everyone and how he so desperately wants a relationship with his children.  Read this beloved parable and  consider the questions provided.


Luke 15:11–24 (NIV) — 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate."


1.     Write down everything you can to describe what the father in this story was like.

2. How far away was the lost son when the Father saw him returning?  What does that tell you about the father?  How did the father feel when the son arrived back home (vv.20-24; see also vv. 6-7, 9-10)?

3. What does all this tell you about how God feels toward people who are living in rebellion to him?  Do 1 Timothy 2;3-4 and 2. Peter 3:9 add anything to the picture of how God feels about them?

4. Do you believe God really wants ungodly people to come back to him? Do you believe he really receives them in a manner like the father in this story? What does God’s sending Jesus into the world tell us about how God feels toward the lost (cf. John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8)?

5. Why do you think God loves people so much? How can we come to have this kind of love for lost people (cf. 1. Thess. 3:12; 1. John 4:7-11, 19)?

6. How was God’s desire for his lost children to come home reflected in Jesus’ life (see Luke 15:1-2)? Based on this, what are some things we can do to show God’s love for those living in rebellion to him?


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