You’ll Always Be My Baby: God’s Not Mad

Luke 15: 20-24

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. ²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.^[b]’ 

²² “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³ And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴ 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.

The song in the video that Sara Evans sings “You’ll Always Be My Baby” reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son that Jesus told of God’s grace and forgiveness.  In our lives, like in the song. we all do things that disappoint God.  The problem is that we feel guilty and condemn ourselves when God does not feel the same way about us.  We carry around guilt and shame,   feeling unworthy to approach God.  We feel that God cannot forgive us because of what we have done.  God does not throw us out just because we have done wrong.  People may do that to us, but God doesn’t.  The prodigal son repented and went home to his father because he knew he would be better off with his loving dad than staying in his destructive lifestyle. We are human, and we will eventually mess up. It happens to everyone.

 If we would just come back to him he would run toward us to love and forgive us.  Like the prodigal son, he dresses us up and cleans us up through the blood of his son.  He makes us righteous.  In the words of the Sara Evans song, God tells us:

” In the sunlight or the rain, brightest nights or darkest days

I’ll always feel the same way whatever road you may be on

know your never too far gone . my love is there wherever you may be

just remember that You’ll always be my baby.” 

There is nothing in your past that God cannot and will not forgive.  The choice is yours because you will always be his baby.

Until next time,

be grateful that God runs toward us and not away from us

pastor greg t.