- [Narrator] Have you ever thought
about what God wants?
It seems unusual to think that God wants something.
I know he wants the very best for me.
The Bible says, "His thoughts towards us are for good,
"not evil," but what does he want?
What makes God happy?
What are his desires?
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I believe that the Bible shares this with us.
However, just like in a relationship,
we sometimes get too occupied with our needs
to pay attention to others.
We see what the father wants in three parables.
The first is the parable of the prodigal son.
This particular parable begins with a man
with two sons, and the younger ones asks his father
to give him a share of his inheritance.
This meant that the son did not want to wait
for his father to die.
The father, however, agrees,
and divides his entire estate
between both two sons.
Upon receiving his portion of inheritance,
the youngest son traveled to a distant country,
and then proceeded to waste all his money
in extravagant living.
Immediately after, a famine strikes the land,
and he becomes desperately poor,
and he's forced to work with pigs.
When the prodigal son reaches the point
of envying the food of the pigs he is caring for,
finally, he comes back to his senses.
He then said to himself,
"My father's servants have enough bread to spare,
"and I perish with hunger.
"I will arise and go back to my father.
"Then I will say unto him,
"'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
"'and I'm no more worthy of being called your son.
"'Make me one of your hired servants.'"
And then he rose and came to his father.
But when he was a great way off,
his father saw him, and had compassion,
and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
The oldest son, who worked in the fields,
heard the sound of the celebration.
He's told about the return of his younger brother,
which makes him angry.
He approaches his father, saying,
"How many years have I served thee?
"I have followed all the commandments,
"and you never gave me a such as little animal
"to make merry with my friends.
"However, as soon as my younger brother came home,
"you decided to kill a cow for him."
The parable ends with the father explaining
that, because the younger son had returned,
in a sense, from the dead,
the celebration was necessary.
"It was meant that we should make merry and be glad,
"for this, thy brother, was dead and is alive again,
"and was lost, and is found."
That is the story of the prodigal son.
However, there is one problem.
The parable was never called
the parable of the prodigal son.
I see three main characters here.
Three people went through bad times in this story.
The prodigal son was sad for a while.
However, the father was also sad,
and for much longer than the prodigal son.
From the very beginning,
when the father divided his estate,
he was not pleased.
When his son was spending all that estate funds,
the father was out there, waiting,
looking for his son to come back.
He was sad when the son lost everything.
He only became happy when he saw his son return.
At the beginning of the story,
the father lost his joy,
and all he wanted was for things to get back as they were.
Parable shows us that the father was patiently waiting,
and watching for his son's return.
In most versions of Luke,
the son never even finishes a speech
as his father calls his servants to dress the son
and offer him a fattened calf
for a celebratory meal.
I wonder what the father would have done
for anyone that reached out to his prodigal son
and brought him home.
Imagine, just imagine, what would you do
if someone helped you restore your lost son?
We also have the parable of the lost sheep.
"He told them the parable,
"'Which of you men, if you had 100 sheep,
"'and lost one of them,
"'wouldn't leave the 99 in the wilderness
"'and go after the one that was lost
"'until he found it?
"'When he has found it,
"'he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
"'When he comes home, he calls together his friends,
"'his family, and his neighbors,
"'saying to them, "Rejoice with me,
"'"for I have found my sheep which was lost."
"'I tell you that, even so,
"'there will be more joy in heaven
"'over one sinner who repents
"'than over 99 righteous people
"'who need no repentance.'"
Jesus here is saying, which of you men,
means, you would all feel and do the same way as God.
You would rejoice with your friends
when you find an expensive item you are looking for.
The third and final parable,
as told in Luke 15, a woman with 10 silver coins loses one.
She then lights her oil lamp
and sweeps her house until she finds it,
rejoicing when she does, for what woman.
When she found it, she calls together her friends
and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me,
"for I have found the drachma which I had lost."
Even so, I tell you, there is joy
in the presence of angels of God
over one sinner repenting.
Luke 15, verse 8 to 10.
What is common in all these three parables?
In the middle of these three parables,
the main character's hoping to get something back,
and in all three parables,
the story ends with joy,
and the three parables tell us
that he also lost us.
Since the beginning, God lost us,
and he will only celebrate after he sees
that his sons have returned.
You see, God cannot behold sin,
not will not, but cannot,
so we got hurt due to sin,
yet we also hurt God due to our sin.
God lost us.
God wants his lost kids back.
The whole essence of lost means that it was once held
by the proper owner,
and God wants his lost children back.
That is what the father spends his time doing,
either looking out for his lost son,
or looking for his lost sheep,
or finding his lost coin.
He comes back home to his sheep,
but he awakes and looks for what he lost.
What does God want?
He wants things to be like it was in the beginning,
and that was why he sent Jesus,
to be both God and man,
so that we can all be saved again through him.
You see, in all these three parables,
we see that the center figures loses something,
and they're going through great pain to get it back.
Jesus went through great pain to save us,
and he was able to do that
by submitting to God's will.
We need to do things for the kingdom of God,
and put God first,
not just our selfish desires.
Preaching to an unbeliever might not be what you want,
but the host of heaven is exceedingly happy
when a lost soul is recovered.
The Bible says heaven celebrates
when one lost soul comes back.
We might not scream in joy,
but the host of heaven does.
I tell you that, in the same way,
there will be more rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents
than over 99 righteous persons
who did not need to repent.
Luke 15, verse 7.
Read through all the three parables,
and instead of looking at the son,
pay attention to the father, the shepherd,
and the owner of the coin.
Sometimes, we say words without really thinking
of what they mean.
For example, we are the redeemed.
To redeem means to buy back.
You can't buy back what wasn't yours.
We seem to have too numerous challenges
to even think about others.
However, the question is,
why is it so important to focus on the father's feelings?
It is important because God's interest is with his kingdom.
If you really are seeking the kingdom of God to come,
pursue the interest of God,
but that means submitting your will to God's will,
and if you want to express your love,
you show interest in the interests of your lover.
Win souls because he clearly likes it.
Invite his lost sons to come back home
because he clearly likes it.
Seek first the kingdom of God.
God is the king.
We do not belong to a spiritual democracy.
The kingdom is in subjection to the king.
His interests are with the kingdom needs.
Jesus did not want to go to the cross,
but he did so through God's will.
Jesus was given up to restore a relationship,
to wash us from our sins.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God
means you're studying the king and doing what he loves.
Jonah never wanted to go to Nineveh,
but after he submitted to God's will,
we had the greatest revival
that the world had ever seen,
with people returning to God.
Moses did not want to go to Egypt,
but God used him to free the Israelites,
which gave us the commandments.
In this heavenly relationship, like others,
you're going to do things that you don't want to do
for the sake of the one you love.
You need to submit your will.
Billy Graham once noted,
"God wants your mind, your body, your heart,
"and also your will."
Maybe God has put a task in your heart
that you are too scared to do
because it seems humongous,
or you'd rather not do it.
But take a bold act of faith.
Be courageous.
Courage means acting in times of fear.
You want to go back to your comfort zone, but act.
Great things happen when we take a bold step of faith.
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And our question for the day is,
what verse of the scripture do you go to
in times of trouble?
Please comment below and let us know.
And to anyone still listening,
we pray you are blessed,
and we pray you remain fruitful.
Remember to be strong,
and also show love at the end of the world.
'Til next time, shalom.