Devotion for Wednesday, September 12, 2007

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Matthew 15:20: While he was yet a long way off, his father saw him. The father was full of loving-pity for him. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him. It’s amazing what you can learn by simply being in the same room with your children. For instance, yesterday while simply lying on my bed reading a book… scratch that. I meant trying to read a book…. I learned that Albert Einstein can be placed in the same category with the tiny girl at the top of the cheerleading pyramid and both were the subject of a Freshmen Composition essay. I learned that the signing bonus for someone who wants to join the army and go to armored-tank driving school is more than my van costs. I learned that a teenager with the flu can run a temperature of 104.6 and still complain because she’s tired of saltine crackers and sprite. I learned that a mother is not allowed to really be sick because her house will fall down around her if she tries. I also learned that God works in mysterious ways. Kristen decided that doing her homework on my bed was more fun, because Lauren has the stomach flu and she didn’t want to be near her. So instead of a few minutes of peace with a John Grisham book that I haven’t read, I got Medical Terminology, College Algebra and all the information about something called “grade one thinking” that I could ever want. But I also got my 18 year old daughter turning off the John Tesh piano cd…and turning on VTN Carbonated. Which is where I found Josh Bates: and 30 minutes of music that hit me straight in the heart and could only be described as worship. Josh Bates was valedictorian of his 13 member high school graduating class and graduated magnacumlaude from Northern Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He talked of how his friends thought he was absolutely crazy, when he told them that he was going to use his degree to….play contemporary Christian Music? He found a friend in Mark Miller, formerly of Sawyer Brown and now founder of Beach Street Records, who have signed such artists as Casting Crowns. Mark encouraged him to follow where he felt God was leading him. The results are songs with lyrics such as “It’s a matter of faith, hope and love. It’s a matter of trusting the Father above.” And: “When I’m broken on my knees, you run out to take my hand, hold me in your arms again. When the world tells me it’s impossible, You still love the Prodigal” Have you ever felt like the prodigal? I know I have. My prayers must be getting caught somewhere, because they sure don’t seem to be making it all the way to the Father. But perhaps, I’m not looking in the right place for the answers. Maybe like the Prodigal Son, I’m scared to turn around and run back home. I’m afraid of being rejected or terrified that I’ve messed up too bad for Him to forgive me this time. But that isn’t our God! I John 1:9 (New Life Version) says: If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin. All we have to do is ask. Because it’s true….God does still loves the Prodigal