Dependent on GOD

DEPENDENT ON GOD

We are all absolutely dependent on God.  That is a pretty bold statement from a human point of view, especially if you are a person who has no particular religious philosophy, doesn’t believe in God or any gods of any sort from a religious point of view…But, we are all dependent on God whether or not we choose to believe in God or not, follow His teachings or not.  We are His, even if we are wayward children, the prodigal son or daughter; and He still loves us despite our wayward ways and disobedience and we are still dependent on Him for our existence.  We belong to Him even if we do not listen to Him or obey Him.  As the Creator of the entire universe and all that is in it God has absolute claim on us.  He owns us.  That is pretty mind boggling to think about.

The Bible says that in the beginning God created the heavens and earth and all that is therein.  God created it.  It is His and His alone.  All that we are or ever will be is dependent on God and His will.  Our life, our very being is sustained by His hand.

The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the ground we walk on and the shelter that protects us from the storm all come from God, His creation, the foundation of all that sustains us.  We are absolutely dependent on God.  Take away just one of these things, take away God and we die.  Without God we have no life.

Our life is dependent on God, on His love for us, His mercy and His grace.

For those of us who believe and follow God, live our life according to His will, there is a great and glorious future ahead of us with wondrous reward, a fabulous inheritance, eternal life filled with abundance we can’t even begin to imagine, peace, good health, joy and gladness, all a gift from God passed to us by His son Jesus and the price He paid for the gift given.  Of course no gift is a gift until we accept it.  It is like that beautiful diamond ring sitting in the showcase of the world’s finest jeweler.  It is beautiful, it is desirable but it is not ours until we receive it; accept it and someone has to pay the price for it.  That is what Jesus did.  He paid the price for that gem called life.  Life belongs to Him.  He is God and God gives us life…But it is only ours if we accept the gift.  The Bible says, “For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” Galatians 3:26

I got to thinking about the story of the prodigal son in the Bible.  Here was a young man who had a good life, all that he could ask for.  His father was very rich and a very loving and kind parent.  One day the son decided he could do just as well on his own and he didn’t need his father.  He wanted to live his life his way but he still wanted his inheritance, all that he would receive from his father, those gifts his father had saved up and prepared for him.  He went to his father and asked for his inheritance.  Now his father knew his son was not prepared yet to handle such a gift but his son, like all the rest of us, has freedom of choice.  We can follow our parent’s advice and knowledge and learn from them or go it our own way, maybe even be successful for a time but it will never last.  The son didn’t want to listen to his father’s reasoning and so the father said, okay, have it your way but remember this, I love you and you can always come home again.  I will never leave you or forsake you.   Here you are, all that I have to give you is yours to use as you will.

You now have everything you need to live a good, happy, fulfilling and productive life.  And the son left with barely so much as a thank you.

This is what God has done for us too.  God has given us everything we need to live a good, happy, fulfilling and productive life…but only so long as we take care of the gift that has been given us and use it wisely, not squander it all.

Now the prodigal son left all the splendor and affluence, the great benefits of life he had always known while living in this father’s care and went off on his own leaving his father’s love, grace, mercy and teachings behind him.

At first things went pretty well and he was convinced he didn’t need his father but the son wasn’t very wise in handling his inheritance.  Like us, he squandered the blessings he had received.  Before long he saw he had to struggle just to survive.  One day he found himself totally broken and wallowing at the trough with the hogs just for food to eat.  He had once had it all.  Everything he could possibly want or dream of.  He was his father’s son and his father loved him and wanted and gave only the very best to him.  He had taken all the wonderful gifts of the father and wasted it.  He’d made a lot of bad choices, been disobedient to his father’s wishes, and ignored his father’s plan to benefit him greatly, he had not honored his father and now here is was wallowing with the pigs and fighting for the last rotten apple.

This son was about to die and he knew it.  He was going to die a worthless, useless, disgusting, sick, sorry and sin ladened soul; or…or; what was it his father said;

I love you.  I will never leave you or forsake you.  I care about you.  I always will.  You are my son, the creation of my being, my seed, I am here for you always and all you have to do is come to me.  And his father let him go his own way and make his own choices.  He didn’t want to be his son’s dictator, make his son some sort of puppet.  Oh his father wanted his son’s love and respect and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to his beloved child but he couldn’t make his son love him and respect him and still give his son the greatest gift of all, freedom, his right to choose that in which he will believe and follow, right or wrong…and the son remembered, I will never leave you or forsake you.   

Try to imagine the thoughts going through this son’s mind.  He certainly didn’t deserve the love of his father.  He had abused that love, squandered every single blessing and turned his back on his father.  He had made a mockery of his father’s blessings and squandered them, laid them to waste and now he was left with nothing and about to die.  The only chance this young man now had was to return to the father and plead his mercy.  His very life was dependent on his father’s love.

The story goes on to tell us that the son turned homeward again, dependent on his father’s love to save him.  His father could have said, whoa, tough, go away, I already gave you all you need and plenty more.  You didn’t love and respect me enough to take care of the blessings you have been given already so don’t come to me begging.  You made your own choices.  Live or die with them.  You refused to listen to me, to obey me or honor me.  I don’t know you.  Go away.

That didn’t happen.  While the son was yet afar off the father say him coming through the distant fields and ran to meet him and help him walk the rest of the way home.  When they arrived there was a great celebration held to welcome the son home again, a huge feast and the son was given clean clothes to wear, the finest robes and there was singing and dancing and much joy that the son had returned.  The son, undeserving though he was, was welcomed back because his father loved him and forgave him.  His father accepted his plea for forgiveness and gave of his storehouse freely that his son might live.

The son’s very life was dependent on his father’s love, mercy and grace.

The same goes for us.  God is our Father.  He created us.  Our very existence depends on God.  We are His seed and God loves us.  We are all prodigal sons and daughters but we can come home again and the gift of love and life is waiting for us through Jesus, the Christ.  Jesus paid the price and paved the way for us to come home.  It is up to each of us to make the choice, turn homeward and God will rush to meet us in the fields of our iniquity and help us home again, walk with us and there is a marvelous homecoming waiting for us if we will just come home again.  We truly are dependent on God and He loves us so very much.  Don’t you want to come home?  God is waiting for you.