I administered the prescribed amount of paracetamol to my toddler and placed the bottle on the table.
She licked her lips in glee, savouring the taste. “Sorry, sugar plum, but you can only have a teaspoon,” I said to her, kissing her forehead.
I needed to pick something from a different room in a huff. My eyes darted from her to the medicine bottle. Was the finger-licking syrup safe with her? Would she take a swig?
Her innocent face duped me. I could definitely rush and pick the item before putting the medicine away – or so I thought.
When I came back, she was licking her glossy lips in sheer ecstasy. She had downed the remaining strawberry-flavored paracetamol. Every single drop.
I was gutted. Just how fast did she chug it down? I had merely been gone for a split second!
Parents know that it only takes a few seconds for an unsupervised explorative toddler to trigger a Tsunami.
To touch a hot stove, break a flower vase, clamber up the bookshelf, swallow a coin, run across a parking lot, etc.
That’s why someone has to keep an eye on them around the clock. So much is at stake when they are left to their own devices.
He Itched for the Next Shiny Thing
He was young. Just a callow lad not responsible enough to live on his own, let alone steward an inheritance.
He was, however, restless, itching for something different.
He yearned for fun, liberty, exposure, adventure, the next shiny thing.
He wanted to take in a lungful of freedom, far-flung from his father’s presence.
“And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.” (Luke 15:12)
The father indulged Him and gave Him his portion. He didn’t pitch a fight or restrain Him.
Because the Father is gentle and lowly, he doesn’t impose Himself. He wants to be chosen. Intentionally.
Away from the father’s presence, the prodigal son went out on a limb. He lived recklessly and wasted his possessions. He even engaged in the unthinkable – harlotry.
Before long, he was in a bind. A famine hit the land, and he desperately needed to fend for himself.
The next shiny thing had lost its shimmer.
Faced with hunger and lack, all his hubris melted like ice on a sunny day.
Before he knew it, he was tending to a herd of pigs faster than he could say “I loathe the smell of pigs.”
With a growling stomach and threadbare dignity, he even drooled over the pig’s food.
Ultimately, sense started trickling in. The thought that his father’s servants had plenty to eat hit him like a ton of bricks.
Truth churned in his growling stomach, and he grew restless.
It was time to crawl back home, and he knew a thing or two about his Father. Though he would be crestfallen, he would at least consider making him a servant.
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” (Luke 15:17-19)
Nothing to See Here
The prodigal son learned that there’s nothing good, rosy, shiny, pleasant, or beneficial outside the Father’s presence.
Nada. Zilch.
Because you and I were never meant to live outside the presence of God.
We were never meant to carve a life outside His covering. The Father didn’t redeem us with such a hefty price- the blood of His only begotten Son, only to let us loose.
He redeemed us to keep us close, to shepherd us. He wants us to abide in Him. Like fish in water, we can never thrive outside His presence.
Thankfully, the Father’s compassion overrode his mistakes.
Because God doesn’t dispense his mercy with an eyedropper but with a gushing hydrant.
His boundless mercy blotted out all his son’s sins.
He ran to meet him, adorned him in the best robe, slipped a ring on his finger, put sandals on his feet, and threw him a lavish party.
The slack-jawed lad went from the murky, stinky pigs’ sty straight to a banquet.
He expected punishment, but received a rousing welcome.
No warning letter was issued or disciplinary hearing convened. He had, after all, never lost access to his father.
Because no matter how far we stray, the father is always anticipating our return. He waits with bated breath, ready to embrace, celebrate our return, and restore us.
The Slow Drift
Here’s the truth -we don’t just wake up one day and, in a random moment of mischief, decide to stomp away from the father’s presence.
Our straying is a process, a slow drift, a misalignment that compounds over time.
It often starts with small, puny, seemingly harmless decisions. A day without prayer becomes a week, then a month.
A mindless scroll on the internet snowballs into an addiction to pornography. A flirtatious text message morphs into full-fledged adultery.
Everything starts small, then builds up.
A trickle becomes a stream before burgeoning into a roaring river. A little dash of yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.
James brings it all into perspective. He places the blame squarely on our untamed desires. They are the culprit.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:13-14)
We are enticed by our fleshly desires-desires that are not aligned with God’s word. When we follow their lead, they evolve into sin.
Before we know it, we are knee-deep in ugly, stinking sin and can barely muster the courage to face the Father.
Like the prodigal son, when we finally come to our senses, we already have our penance figured out. We hope the Father can at least make us servants.
Our identity as sons and daughters of the King was long marred. We are merely scratching around for survival, like hens pecking away at crumbs.
Abiding in His Love
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (John 15:9-10)
Jesus commands us to abide in Him.
He assures us that He loves us with the same intensity the Father loves Him with.
Can you picture that? God loving you as fiercely as He loves Jesus? It’s a tad dizzying, isn’t it?
But there’s a catch. We abide in this overwhelming, boundless love by keeping His commands.
That’s how He, Jesus, remained in His Father’s love; He kept the Father’s commands.
You and I cannot reinvent Christ’s template.
Abiding in Christ’s love will keep us tethered to the Father. It will keep us from straying.
When our flesh lures us towards sin, the Holy Spirit helps us filter our desires against Christ’s commands.
His grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions (Titus 2:12).
Yes, we may slip and falter, because none of us is perfect in the flesh. Nonetheless, we rise, ditch the pig’s sty, and crawl back home.
Perks of Abiding
The prodigal son lost everything when he strayed.
His possessions, dignity, identity, purpose, and sound judgment went down the drain.
Because there’s not a sliver of good outside the father’s presence.
On the other hand, abiding in Him positions us for a flurry of blessings.
David paints a vivid picture of the perks of lounging with the father, of dwelling in the secret place.
Refuge, angelic protection, deliverance from danger, and answered prayer are guaranteed.
“If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” (Psalm 91:9-13)
Jesus also promised that abiding in Him helps us lead fruitful lives. Lives that knock it out of the park.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. “ (John 15:5)
Success Has a Template
God gave Joshua a template for success as he geared up to lead the Israelites into the promised land.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)
Three things stand out
- Be strong and courageous,
- Meditate on the law day and night,
- Obey what the Law commands
If Joshua followed all three, prosperity was guaranteed. His success was hinged on His willingness to abide.
Abiding was the passcode for Joshua.
Abiding is the passcode for you and me.
Tap Into the Divine Sap
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”(Psalm 1:1-3)
Jesus came to give us life in abundance. However, we only access this life when we abide in Him.
He is the vine, and we are the branches.
We need to stay connected to Him in order to tap into the divine sap coursing through Him.
Only then can our lives be fruitful, for without Him we can do nothing.
So abide, beloved.
- Keep in prayer and meditate on His word day and night.
- Set your minds on things above, not on things below.
- Watch out for the little puny desires that lure you into sin.
- Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares you, and run with endurance the race that is set before you (Hebrews 12:2)
- If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell (Mathew 15:29)
- Watch out for the little foxes that spoil the vineyard (Song of Solomon 2:15).
Do not leave the father’s presence because you were never meant to live outside Him in the first place.
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