GOING back to my high school days, I picked up the habit of noting and collecting quotes. Not necessarily a novel idea since any number of reference books containing nearly endless lists of notable quotes can be found in any library and home book shelves alike; …just do a “quote” google search and well…….
STILL, I like my own personal collection, and can still remember the first quote noted and recorded that started my collection. It was pinned to the wall behind a high school buddy’s bedroom desk, stating: “There’s no security on this earth, only opportunity” – General Douglas MacArthur. Those of you who know me well, see therein the seeds of my favorite quote of all time: “Problems we face are nothing more than opportunities in disguise” – John Adams .
MY personal quote collection currently numbers over 1,650 and continues to grow with on-going discoveries and additions. Within this mix of pithy little commentaries there is one that often comes to mind late, found again in today’s Morning Greeting title:
“The Information is out there; you just got to let it in.”
I’M going to withhold its attribution and the reasons why I think this thought has been resurfacing of late until my next posting. For now, however, I’d like to return to BiblePortal.com. and pick-up Part 2 of the Prodigal Son, the narrative we began to explore last week. To repeat, this is referencing a three-part series on the story of the Prodigal Son posted by Bible Portal that I find quite insightful. Part 2 in below, again with a lead-in excerpt containing at the end the link to the full-on line text.
WITH that said, here’s today’s consideration from Bibleportal.com titled, “The Father Who Doesn’t Stop the Son.” I pray you hit the link and find the blessing of reading it in its entirety.
In the inexorable riches of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10; Isa 30:15; Job 2:10; Jas. 1:2; Prov. 21:30
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The Father Who Doesn’t Stop the Son
He could have stopped him. He didn’t.
“So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country.” — Luke 15:12–13
Into the Word
The father in this parable is not a man of power. Not in the way we expect.
When his son demands his inheritance and prepares to leave, the father does not threaten, bargain, or block the door. He divides his property and watches the son walk away. A father with the means to stop him simply does not. The son gets exactly what he asked for.
This is one of the most quietly devastating moments in all of Scripture. And it tells us something about God that we are slow to accept.
I AM WHO I AM.
When Moses asked God for His name, God answered with something that resists translation: I AM WHO I AM. Not “I am powerful” or “I am holy” or “I am the one who controls all things.” Simply: I am who I am. Self-existent. Dependent on nothing. Complete in Himself.
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
I AM has sent me to you.’” — Exodus 3:14
This God needs nothing from us. He is not diminished by our absence. He does not require our worship to sustain Himself, or our obedience to remain who He is. He is the Absolute Being, lacking nothing.
And yet. This same God chose to enter into relationship with us. Not out of need, but out of love. … Bible Portal-The Father Who Doesn’t Stop the Son
