[RE]FOCUS Day 36
Week 6: Reforming
Day 1: He really does care
By Pastor Justin Krupsky
READ:
It is true: people don’t care about what you know till they know how much you care. All too often when life is hard we do not think God cares. However, what we do know as we focus on Jesus is that He does care. He really cares. So, what does He know? In the day of Jesus people thought they knew. They thought they had learned everything. Little did they know He was here to reform what they thought they knew. He was here not just to fulfill the promise, not just to show us that Heaven was for real in His miracles, not just to care for those who were not being cared for, not just to show us the Father, but He also came to teach. He came to reform our way of thinking with the truth.
In Luke 15 He taught. He taught about a lost coin, a lost sheep, and 2 lost sons. He taught about the reckless love of the one who lost their coin, the one whose sheep had gone missing, and the one whose sons needed love. I love how He describes the father’s response to his youngest son as he returns home in verse 20, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Our teacher Jesus in this great parable is describing the love of our Heavenly Father. Do we understand this? When we give into temptation and sin, our Heavenly Father never gives up on us. What we know is that He quite literally ran to us in the person of Jesus. “For God so loved the world (that is you and me) that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but would have everlasting life.” Today I pray that we receive the embrace of our Father. Bring it in for the real thing today. Be loved. Jesus reformed our image of the Father 2,000 years ago. Let’s continue to refocus on the Teacher of truth.
PRAY:
Father in Heaven, thank You for running to us in Jesus. Thank you for showing Your care in Jesus. Today, we confess that we all too often run away in our sin, but thank You for never turning your back on us. May we receive your embrace. Teach us this week great teacher. Reform our thinking. Amen.
LIVE:
Right now, for some, hugging could be “dangerous”. Even when we have to socially distance, what does the Father’s embrace tell you?