“… My people have forgotten Me days without number.”

— Jeremiah 2:32

Do you know anyone—a relative, a friend, a hometown hero—who has given his or her life for our country? Memorial Day is a day when we remember those who have made that ultimate sacrifice, who have given their lives that we might enjoy the freedom we have in America today. How easily we forget the terror that filled the hearts of young men when they landed on the beaches of strange islands they had never heard of. How easily we forget the spilled blood of those who lay wounded in foxholes. We forget all those sacrifices in the midst of our modern pleasures and preoccupations.

But today we remember, and well we should. Let us remember Lexington, Concord, Valley Forge, Yorktown, the Battle of New Orleans, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, Bataan, Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, North Africa, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Pork Chop Hill, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, where hundreds of thousands of Americans laid down their lives that we might enjoy this day of peace and freedom.

As we remember those brave men and women, we also need to remember what they fought for. Did they sacrifice their lives for what we see happening in our nation these days, for our plummeting moral standards? Never in the history of the world, one writer has said, has any nation so quickly thrown off its belief system. For scores of years founders, presidents, and Supreme Court justices have said, “This is a Christian nation.” But we have forgotten or rejected our heritage by the choices so many of us have made.

Is there anything you can do today to remember not only the men and women who have given their lives for this country but also why they gave up their lives? Is there something you can do today—within yourself or with those around you—to help our nation get back on course? May God grant that we return to our roots and remember our rich Christian heritage and those who shed their own blood to preserve it.

“… the Almighty Being … has kept us in His hands from
the infancy of our Republic to the present day …”
Andrew Jackson

“But he was angry, and would not go in …”

— Luke 15:28

After the Prodigal Son had returned to his father, there was great rejoicing. Everyone celebrated the prodigal’s return … everyone, that is, except the older brother. Instead, he moped, and he lashed out at his father for celebrating his brother’s return.

We can put sin into two categories: sins of the flesh, which the Prodigal Son embodied, and sins of the disposition, which are typified by the older brother. Pride was the older brother’s main sin. C. S. Lewis, the great Christian author, has said, “It is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity—it is enmity. And not only between man and man, but enmity to God.” Since pride produces nothing but misery and division, it is not surprising that the older brother felt miserable and separated himself from his family.

Some people have tried to excuse the older brother’s tantrum by saying that it was only a fit of temper and nothing to concern ourselves with. But Jesus had enough concern about it to include it in this parable. We can’t dismiss the older brother’s outburst, for his tantrum reveals the rottenness of pride at the core of his being, pride which rose to the surface when his brother returned and would rise again the next time someone threatened his self-righteousness.

For as bad as the prodigal’s sins were, the older son’s sin was worse. While the prodigal came to the father and confessed his sins, the older brother never did. He never entered the house. Night fell and left him outside. And the story ends there. Why? The story ends with the older brother outside in the dark because a person with such a spirit can never enter Heaven. That kind of person must become grateful anew for salvation given in grace, never earned. The love of Christ must come into that person’s heart to remove the pride from his or her soul.

Does this hit a little close to home? Have you ever found yourself a tad indignant that someone who has sinned so greatly receives the same salvation God gives you? Then confess that pride today. Ask God to remove it from your heart. And thank God that His mercy extends to prideful sinners, too.

“Pride and grace dwelt never in one place.”
James Kelly

“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”

— Luke 15:20

Do you remember the last time you waited to see someone dear to you? Perhaps your best friend from childhood visited you from a faraway place. Maybe a child came home from college. Whoever it was, how did you feel when that person finally arrived?

The joy we feel at a reunion with a cherished family member or friend is just the tiniest reflection of our heavenly Father’s joy when one of His lost children returns to Him. We get a wonderful picture of this in the parable of the Prodigal Son. When the son returns home, the father runs to greet him and welcomes him with open arms; so great was the father’s love for his child.

The prodigal had finally realized the frivolity of leaving his father’s house. He recognized the error of his ways. As he arose and made his way home, his father waited and watched. The father’s hair had now turned gray, and his heart had long been broken. Nevertheless, he sat on his rooftop, looking and yearning and waiting for his beloved son to return.

After waiting for so long, one day the father saw a head rise up over the hill, then a torso, then a body; and even though the person was clothed in rags, he recognized the gait. It was his son. The father rushed down the stairs; made his way out of the house; and, to the amazement of all the servants, took off running.

Some sinners say they’ll repent someday . . . one of these days or when they lie on their deathbeds. But every day they wait, they put off the tremendous reunion that awaits them. God waits to take them in at the slightest indication that they want to come home. To say, “I am going to turn to Christ next week” or “next month” or “tomorrow” means only that the sinner will spend that much more time in spiritual squalor while the Father’s love and the homecoming celebration wait.

Ah, dear prodigal, you who suppose you have sunk so deeply into the mire of the far country that God would never want to set His eyes on you again, Jesus has delineated for you a perfect picture of God’s unfathomable love, if you just turn to God once again, in true confession and repentance. He’ll be there, running toward you to embrace you and welcome you home.

“[He] who sins and mends commends himself to God.”
Cervantes

“… the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.”

— Luke 15:13

Someone once said that people can be divided into two types: givers and takers. The Prodigal Son in Christ’s parable was most definitely a taker. We can paraphrase his first words in the parable as “Gimme. Gimme the goods that fall to me.” “Gimme” is his attitude and the attitude of millions of people in our world today.

So the father divided the wealth and gave the son his living. With his newly acquired access to wealth, the prodigal set out for the “far country.” Where was that far country? Well, the original hearers of Jesus’ parable might have thought it was Babylon or Rome or Corinth. Today a prodigal might set out for New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Harvey Cox described the “far country” as the secular city, the place where most people live today, a world bounded by time with no thought of eternity or of God. People who adopt the secular philosophy don’t deny God outright; they merely ignore Him, considering Him irrelevant.

The Prodigal Son did just that to his father as he set off for the far country. But the far country wasn’t all he had dreamed it would be. The Prodigal Son soon found that out. The more he did what he liked, the less he liked what he did. He looked for liberty; he found tyranny. He looked for friends; he found pigs. He looked for sensuality; he found starvation. Those were the realities of the far country. When the prodigal had spent all he had in riotous living, a mighty famine came over that land, and he found himself in great need. To survive, he ended up feeding pigs, a most debasing task for a Jew. Further, he felt so hungry that he longed to fill his stomach with the slop he fed them. Such are the ravages of sin. It may look so glamorous at first, but it ends up so debasing.

The good news is that though we may venture to that far country, the Father anxiously awaits our return. If we repent and return to the Father, no matter how far we’ve strayed, He will welcome us in. Have you wandered off? Turn around and come back today. The Father is waiting with open arms.

“That which we call sin in others is experiment for us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Then He said, ‘A certain man had two sons.’”

— Luke 15:11

Author Charles Dickens, who knew a great tale when he heard it, remarked that the greatest story in all literature was the parable of the Prodigal Son. For the next few days, we’ll examine this story that earned such distinction.

To begin our examination, let’s briefly review the story. You will recall that the parable is about a father and his two sons. The younger son came to his father, asking for his share of his inheritance. The father gave it, and the young man left for a far country and squandered the money he received on wild living (“prodigal” means wasteful). The younger son ended up broke and in dire straits, so he returned to his father in repentance. The father embraced him, rejoiced at his return, and celebrated with a feast. The older brother, who had never left home, was jealous of his father’s attention toward the younger brother. But the father told the older son that they had good cause to celebrate—the Prodigal Son had been dead and now was alive. (For the complete parable, read Luke 15:11–32.)

One theologian has pointed out that Christ is always crucified between two thieves: license and legalism. So it is with these two sons, the younger representing license and the older legalism. These two sons paint a picture of the entire human race, the depiction of two apparently opposite and yet related types of sinners. Both rebel in their own ways, alienating themselves from their father. Yet the father loves them both with a love beyond comprehension.

This rich parable teaches many deep truths, but the greatest of these is the love of the Father, who welcomes home those who have fallen into all kinds of sin. Whether we live wildly or we self-righteously judge those who do, the Father loves us and welcomes us home as His children.

“Love is God’s essence; power but his attribute;
therefore is his love greater than his power.”
Richard Garnett

“Be not misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’”

— 1 Corinthians 15:33, NIV

We are all influenced by each other, and our ideas, thoughts and even mannerisms are shaped by the people around us. Who we choose as friends is critical in terms of who we ultimately become. Choosing godly friends will build us up in the faith and help us to become godly. Conversely, choosing ungodly friends will pull us down.

From the beginning of time, peer pressure has been a major factor in leading people astray. The book of Proverbs contains many practical warnings for us. For example, Proverbs 1:10 instructs: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” Solomon goes on to describe how ungodly acquaintances will try to persuade you to join in their activities.

How can we become close friends with such people and not be influenced by them? We can be friends with the ungodly inasmuch as we attempt to be gracious witnesses to them, but certainly we cannot, as children of God, take our cues from them or engage in their wicked activities.

The destructive effect of friendships with the wrong people can be seen in the results of a recent survey of inmates in an Illinois prison. Do you know the main reason for their criminal behavior? Not broken homes, poverty, or lack of positive opportunities in life. The main reason the prisoners cited for their wayward lives was their friends: peer pressure.

Don’t be misled: Bad company corrupts good character. Let’s commit to choosing our friends and associates carefully—even prayerfully.

“Associate yourself with men of good quality . . .
’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
“Rules of Civility”
(Made Famous By George Washington)

“… when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.’”

— Matthew 22:11-12

Can you imagine being invited to a royal wedding? For most of us, our first response would be “But I have nothing to wear.” Then we’d go to great lengths to prepare for the event, scouring all the best stores for the most suitable gown or tuxedo, not to mention all the appropriate accessories.

Well, the invitations have gone out, not for the wedding of the century, but for the wedding feast of the ages. And you are invited.

In the parable of the wedding feast, Jesus says that the King of kings has invited many to come celebrate with Him, but some of them won’t come. So the King invites more to attend. Those who accept the invitation must carefully choose what to wear. Would any store sell a dress fine enough? Would any tailor sew an outfit appropriate for the great wedding feast of the Lamb? No, nothing we could find would be good enough, so God Himself has provided a shining white robe for each of us to wear. That robe is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is the only proper outfit, and woe to the person who tries to get into the banquet—Heaven— without it.

God will immediately spot those at the banquet who do not wear the wedding garment. In the parable, the man without a wedding garment represents all those who have joined the Church for reasons other than love for Christ. He represents all who profess what they do not possess. Many people claim to be Christians, but they haven’t truly given their hearts to Jesus Christ. As the king in the parable cast out the man without the wedding garment, so, too, will God cast from Heaven those who do not wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness.

Don’t miss out on the wedding banquet. Dress for true success by taking Christ’s righteousness upon you. Allow His grace to usher you in to the celebration of all time.

“Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the
blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell.”
Charles Spurgeon

“He restores my soul …”

— Psalm 23:3

Have you felt run-down lately? Do you need a little refreshment or maybe even a full-blown vacation? We all feel that way at times. Because of the Fall, everything in this world runs down, including us. We experience this in the spiritual realm as well as in the physical.

But Jesus Christ is the great restorer. When we feel drained, we can rely on Him to rejuvenate us. He says, “Behold, I make all things new,” and nothing exists that he can’t rebuild or renew. Jesus restores:

He is indeed the great restorer of all things. And He can make our souls new, even if we’ve backslid. I spoke recently with a man who at one time walked with Christ but then fell away significantly. But, he told me, God had restored his soul and given him a joy he hadn’t known in decades. Many times when we fall, we think God is angry. Satan accuses us, “You’ve blown it. It’s all over. He wants nothing to do with you anymore.” But that’s not true. Just as a shepherd searches for a lost sheep, so Christ the Good Shepherd will come seeking us if we’ve gone astray. He’ll restore our souls as we return to Him.

For whatever reason you may feel run-down, ask Jesus to restore you. Allow His love and power to rejuvenate you as you rest in Him.

“When Satan reminds you of your past,
remind him of his future.”
Bumper Sticker

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

— Luke 18:14

Do you have confidence that God finds you acceptable? If so, upon what do you base your confidence?

The Pharisees believed that God found them acceptable based on their goodness. The Pharisees trusted in their works. Jesus tells us that they even prayed to themselves: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.” As time went on, they became increasingly holy in their own eyes.

But Christ found them greatly lacking. He didn’t base their acceptability on their deeds; he based it on the state of their hearts.

We can classify sin in many ways. Let’s consider the notion of “hot” and “cold” sins. Hot sins are those of passion. These would include such things as adultery, stealing, anger, murder, fornication, and rape. Most of us consider these the most heinous of all sins, and to be sure, the Pharisees avoided such actions. But to the cold sins God turns His hottest words. He scorns sins of self-righteousness, harboring a condemning spirit, pride, and despising others. Against this sort of sin Christ leveled His greatest attacks, and the people most guilty of them were the Pharisees.

So often we trust in ourselves, building our hope of Heaven on nothing more than our own self-righteousness, our own piety, and our own benevolence. We believe we can achieve our own salvation by keeping the commandments and fulfilling ceremonial duties. But if we base our salvation on such things, we’ll find ourselves sadly mistaken. We could never do enough to earn our own passage to Heaven. Only Jesus Christ can save us through His blood.

Today thank Jesus for His sacrifice, which has made your sanctification possible. Ask God to give you a humble and thankful heart every day that you may remember the true Source of your salvation.

“People who are wrapped in themselves make small packages.”
Benjamin Franklin

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

— John 14:27

Do you ever feel that life moves too fast? Perhaps you can relate to the old saying “Stop the world—I want to get off.” Sometimes the world spins too fast; one day melds into the next; and, despite our frenzied and harried pace, we fall further and further behind on our obligations.

But God doesn’t want us to live this way. He wants us to “be still and know that I am God.” Jesus says to us, “Come unto me all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” In fact, God instituted the Sabbath, an important time of rest. When was the last time you sat still in God’s presence, enjoying His rest?

We desperately need “downtime.” Dr. Richard Swenson, author of Margin, a book about reducing stress, says that we need to restore what he calls our “margins,” our reserves. He points out that we live overloaded lives today. But, Swenson says, we can’t deplete our spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, and time reserves for too long without paying for it in one way or another.

Jesus left a legacy to His disciples, a legacy we share in, a legacy that keeps us from depleting all our resources. What is this legacy? His peace. Christ declares to us, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” Oh, how we need it in these troubled times when people’s hearts literally fail them for fear. Threats of terrorists and crime rob millions of people of peace. Job insecurity steals people’s serenity. Nervous breakdowns abound. Pharmacies sell tranquilizers by the millions of pounds each year. We desperately need Christ’s peace, and to gain it, all we need to do is surrender ourselves to God. We find the secret of peace in trusting in His perfect will for our lives, yielding ourselves to rest in His trustworthy arms.

Do you need a dose of peace today? Just look to Christ, the sovereign Lord of all history. He will bring His perfect will to fruition as you trust in Him. Whatever your problems, fix your eyes upon Jesus, and peace will flood your soul.

“Don’t wrestle, just nestle.”
Corrie Ten Boom