67.2 The Prodigal Son

(Luke 15:11-24)

Jesus went on to say, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger one said to him, "Father, give me my share of the property now.' So the man divided his property between his two sons.  After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money.  He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living.  He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing.  So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs.  He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat.  At last he came to his senses and said, 'All my father's hired workers have more that they can eat, and here I am about to starve!  I will get up and go to my father and say,"Father, I have sinned against God and against you.  I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers."' So he got up and started back to his father.

He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity,and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. 'Father, the son said, 'I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.' But the father called to his servants."Hurry!" he said."Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' And so the feasting began.

67.1 Against Self-Righteousness

(Luke 18:9-14)

Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else. "Once there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, "I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income."  But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said, 'God, have pity on me, a sinner!' I tell you," said Jesus,"the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in right with God when he went home. For everyone who makes himself great will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be made great."

66.4 A Call To Praise And Obedience

(Psalm 95)

Come.let us praise the Lord!
Let us sing for joy to God, who protect us!
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.
For the Lord is a mighty God'
a mighty king over all the gods.
He rules over the whole earth'
from the deepest caves to the highest hills.
He rules over the sea, which he made;
the land also, which he himself formed.

Come, let us bow down and worship him;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
He is our God;we are the people he cares for,
the flock for which he provides.

Listen today to what he says:
"Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribab'
as they were that day in the desert at Massah.
There they put me to the test and tried me,
although they had seen what I did for them.
For forty years I was disgusted with those people.
I said, 'How disloyal they are!
They refuse to obey my commands.'
I was angry and made a solemn promise:
'You will never enter the land where I would have given you rest.'"

66.3 Return To God And Purify Your Hearts

(James 4:1-10)

Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from?  They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you.  You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight.  You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not received it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures. Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? Whoever wants to be the world's friend makes himself God's enemy.  Don't think that there is no truth in the scripture that says, "The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires."But the grace that God gives is even stronger.  As the scripture says,"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will ran away from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

66.2 The Lord Has Pity On The Penitent

(2 Kings 22:14-20)

Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan,and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.)  They described to her what had happened, and she told them to go back to the king and give him the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down.  As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people.  I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse.  But I have heard your prayer, and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death.  I will let you die in peace."

The men returned to king Josiah with this message.