God Wants a Relationship Based on Love and Trust

The parable of the Prodigal Son is told in Luke 15: 11–32.

It tells the story of a father with two sons. The younger son goes to his father and asks for his part of the inheritance, which he squanders in a distant land. Meanwhile, his older brother stays home with his father.

When the younger son was starving, he decided to go home to his father and beg his forgiveness, asking to be considered as just a hired hand as he was no longer worthy to be called a son.

But the father ran to him when he was him coming, threw his arm around his boy and kissed him.

When the son says he is no longer worthy to be called “son”, the father puts his best robe on him and prepares a feast to celebrate the return of the son.

When the older son came home from working in the field and heard the celebration, he became angry. He refuses to go inside, so his father comes out to plead with him.

The older brother points out that he has been working for his father and has been obedient — so why has his father never held a feast for him?

In Luke 15:31–32 the father replies:

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Neither brother understood the love of their father.

The younger son wanted freedom. He resented what he thought were his father’s rule, thinking his father wanted control when the father wanted the best for his son and was trying to guide him with love.

The older son resented what he felt was unfair treatment. Perhaps he feared that his father loved him less despite his obedience.

But the father loves his children regardless of their rebellion or obedience.

The father points out to his older son that by not rebelling he has enjoyed the security of living with his father, of enjoying his father’s love and provision on a continuous basis. He benefited from living with his father. And his brother’s return does not mean he loses his portion of the inheritance. So he has no cause for worry or fear that he will lose out.

The father celebrates the return of the younger son because he feared the child was dead, but was overjoyed when he turned up alive. This is a cause for celebration, and the father wants his older son to also be glad for his brother’s return.

For God the Father, what He most wants is our companionship. He does not want us to stay with Him out of fear, or because we blindly obey him. He does not want a relationship based on control — either with us trying to control Him or one where He controls us.

He wants a relationship based on love and trust. He wants us to be present with Him. He wants us to enjoy His love and to trust Him to care for us, and He wants us to love Him. This is what He delights in and when we truly believe in His love and care for us, then we can feel secure.

We know that if we seek His presence, He will be delighted. When we seek Him on a daily basis, He nourishes us continuously. When we walk away, He waits for us to come home to Him.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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