Just Call me Peter

I feel a bit like Peter, the apostle today. Last night, I communed with God on a new level. The end result was the writing of a narration of the Prodigal Son which came to me seemingly by inspiration from above. I was pleased with it, but knew that it was God's handiwork and not mine. I was planning to share it with you. But there is more. Here, read my little story and then listen to .......the rest of the story.

The Return

I ran toward Him with a ferocious energy! There seemed an urgency to meet Him, to fall at His feet.

I had come, through my own stupidity, vanity, lust, ego, whatever else you’d like to label it, to finally realize how very small I was. How very greatly I had abused His amazing generosity.

He had given me everything and I had spent it, all of it, on myself. How foolish I was. How ignorant of the truth.

And now, I ran. He ran too, arms open, and the widest, silliest grin painted His face with fragrant, terrifyingly beautiful joy.

I sobbed as I stumbled toward Him. I could nearly taste the love flowing from His eyes. Thinking back, I wonder how I could have seen so plainly the message etched on His face. I’ll never understand.

You see, there was still quite a distance between us. I had a number of gullies to cross, mud bogs to fall headlong into, even rivers to ford. But somehow, miraculously I suppose, I saw Him. Clearly. Always, coming towards me, always grinning unashamedly. Always with His arms held wide.

When finally, I reached Him, I was an insane mess. My clothing was shredded and I may well have been naked. My hair was tangled and matted, clotted with dried blood from the times I’d hit my head against a rock while falling into a particularly deep pit. My skin was covered in oozing sores, scabs and bruises. I was diseased, starved. My feet bled and cracked because of the terrible roads I’d been traveling.

I fell in a heap at His feet. I begged for some, really any, small mercy. I heaved out my request for the position of servant.

Do you know what He did? He gently pulled me to my feet and embraced me. He placed His fine clothing next to my diseased, stinking body. Warmth flooded through my entire being. It was like nothing I’d ever known. I literally felt the disease drain away. I happened to glance at my arm, which clung tightly around His neck and noticed that my cracked and seeping skin was restored. It was fully restored! It was like a newborn baby’s, without even a blemish.

My eyes darted to His in amazement. It was then that I understood.

Forgiveness flowed from His eyes like a raging river. I was covered in the pure water of His deep love for me.

I was scarcely aware of myself when He began dressing me in His finest robe. He placed new shoes of the finest design on my fully restored feet. He even commanded His servants to kill the best-fatted calf and prepare a feast. He actually threw a party in honor of my return. It was He who deserved a party, not I. But then, if I gather anything at all from the look on His face, He got exactly what He’d wanted all along.

We danced long into the night. I had thought I’d need to tell Him of all my misdeeds. He said he already knew and that now He wanted us to begin the next chapter of my life together with Him. He said He didn’t need to read the precious chapters again. He’d already forgotten them, something about the sea of forgetfulness.

I am so grateful now. I love to tell people my story. How He bought me and He taught me of His redeeming love. I do hope one day that you’ll get to meet Him in the fields of forgiveness as I did.

I heard later, that my brother, who’d always stuck by Him obediently, was angry. I did notice that he wasn’t at the party. But then, I suppose I can see how he would have felt that way. I hope that one day, somehow, he gets the chance to run to Him like I did and be made alive. He’s not really alive as he is now. But I know that He is waiting for him too, just like He waited for me. You need to know that He’ll wait for you too.

Okay, so that was my story. I liked it alot. But then, just a few hours later, I spoke to a friend in a way that really hurt her. Worse, I had no idea that I'd said anything wrong.

Hence, I feel like Peter who first proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of Man, for which Peter was praised. But the next thing we know, Jesus is rebuking Peter for allowing Satan to speak through him.

How I wish I could avoid my own stupidity. I am assuming that I needed some humbling today. Wow, this pie doesn't taste so good.