I
can’t get it out of my mind.
It’s
the new song by Chris Tomlin called “God’s Great Dance Floor.” I’ve heard the
story behind it, and it’s based on the prodigal son and his return to his
father. Chris explains it best in his video on www.youtube.com.
Those
of us who have come back to the Father after walking away, maybe thinking we
knew it all, but finding we don’t, understand the humility we feel coming home.
Though we feel like God cannot and/or will not forgive us, or maybe get beyond
what we have done, we find Him to be a merciful and loving Father who welcomes
us with open arms.
Luke
15:11-32 is where you can read this story. The Bible does not call the father
bitter, unforgiving, or even angry. The father was “filled with compassion” for
his son because he was alive, and he was found.
Can
you imagine? There he was, working in the field. Some the workers might have
seen the reckless son coming, and they were talking and whispering, pointing,
possibly. Maybe they took bets on what the father would do when he got a
glimpse of the son who had demanded his inheritance and squandered it.
And
here came the son. He was desperate for food and resources. He knew he was
wrong, and rather than continue to live in the state of poverty he drove
himself into, he humbled himself and hoped his father would have enough benevolence
to allow him to be treated as a servant. How did he feel when he got a glimpse
of his father before his father saw him? And what did he think when he saw his
Dad running to him with his arms open wide?
I
don’t know about you, but if I was that son or daughter, I would crumble in a
heap of sobs and tears to find out that my father forgave me for my juvenile
and prideful behavior. But to know, really know, he still loved me and wanted
to celebrate my return? Wow!
While
this story Jesus told was not a “true” story, it is a parable based on God the
Father’s response to us when we are found by Him. For those of us who believe
God sent His son for our redemption, we know (but don’t fully fathom) the cost
associated with our freedom, and we are grateful.
If
you have a hard time believing that God could come into your life and change it
from the inside out, that He could never forgive you for what you’ve done, all
you have to do is be found. And you will “come alive on God’s Great Dance
Floor.”
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