The Father Ran

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”

Luke 15:20 · NKJV

The son had a speech prepared, a plan to come home as a hired servant. He never got to finish it. When he was still a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion, and ran.

Everything about that sentence is grace. Saw him from far away, because he had been watching. Ran, though dignified men in that world did not run. Fell on his neck and kissed him, before one word of the apology, before any proof of change. The embrace came first.

This is the God Jesus came to reveal. Not a father with folded arms waiting for restitution, but one whose compassion covers the distance while you are still a great way off.

God's arms reached you before your speech was finished. You come home to an embrace, not an audit.

Go deeper: The Lost Sons Was Never About the Prodigal →