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Luke 15:27 "And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.'"

 

The prodigal son's father is absolutely overjoyed to have his son home safe and sound. Nothing else matters, there is no recrimination, no bitterness, just pure love and acceptance (much to the older brother's dismay).

 

The father in this parable is, as we all know, a stand-in for God. Just like this father, God waits for us, His sinful children, to return to Him. He wants nothing more than to throw His robe around our shoulders and put His ring on our finger. He has everything at His disposal, all of Creation to lavish upon us, but He will not insist on keeping us in His care. He loves us too much to control us, so He lets us go when we insist on doing so, and then He waits like an anxious father.

 

How vulnerable God lets Himself be in His love! He could make us safe and sound, but that would not be love, instead whether or not we choose to be "safe and sound" is in our hands. We get to not choose Him, to reject His love and protection and leave Him anxiously waiting for us. And we so often do this!

 

This is the vulnerability of love, we feel it in our personal relationships, as well. How much more must God feel it when His beloved creatures turn away from him? But each time we stray, He waits, and when we return He welcomes us back into His love with open arms and lavish gifts, so glad to have us back safe and sound.