God's Love

Photo by Brett Jordan

Written by Charles S. Head
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What separates someone from God’s love? This is a question we all need to ask ourselves. When we are really honest with ourselves with a self-examination of this question, we will probably find an example where we have directly or indirectly allowed our circumstances to bring a wedge between us and God. It may not have caused you to go all the way back to the world in which you were delivered from, but there was still a simple, perhaps temporary separation. God’s love is genuine and reaches all the way where we are in an unconditional state. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he is willing to wait for our return.
Jesus gave us an example of God’s unconditional love in John 15:11-24 by using the Prodigal son who left home and wasted all his inheritance. But, upon his return with a broken spirit, and full of shame and guilt, he was welcomed with open arms by his father. What did this young son do to cause him to separate from his father’s love? In John 15:12-13 he wasted his inheritance on partying and a fast life; and John 15:11-13 reads that a certain man had two sons: “and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me my portion of goods that falleth unto me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” After this young son had wasted all his inheritance on a fast life, he was in trouble and finally learned a valuable lesson. The following three things happened in the process of this time:

1. In verses 17-20, he came to himself and realized how foolish he had been.

2. He made a determination in his mind to go home to his father and asked for forgiveness.

3. He took the action by going home to his father.
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John 15:20-24 gives us the story of a great welcome and celebration, with this younger son’s father showing his unconditional love for a son who had lost his way. We may not have to go as far as this Prodigal son, but we must be careful not to allow anything to separate us from God’s love, but if we do, all we have to do is acknowledge our sin with repentance and come home to our Heavenly Father’s unconditional love. He’s waiting!