There once was a father who had two sons. The younger son told his dad to give him his portion of the inheritance, and then went off to squander his riches on all the things his heart desired.

Soon the younger son had nothing, and a famine occurred in the land. The son eventually had to hire himself out to feed pigs, and as he looked at the slop that the pigs were eating, his stomach started to growl.

At this, the younger son came to his senses, and realized that it was better to be in his father’s house even as a servant than to be out here on his own and starve to death. He decided to return to his father and ask for his forgiveness, knowing that he was unworthy to be a son, and to ask to be a servant instead.

While he was approaching from still a far way off, his father saw him and, filled with compassion, ran to embrace him. And when the father heard his son’s words of remorse and realized his son’s change of heart, he was filled with joy and told everyone to celebrate.

“For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again! He was lost and has been found!”

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This is one of the stories that Jesus told to illustrate God’s love for us. We’ll be reading more of these in the upcoming weeks. Hope you can join us!