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Running Away Based on the story of the lost sons and loving father from Luke 15:11-32. Adapted from “The Jesus Storybook Bible” by Sally-Lloyd-Jones. I didn’t think the story was quite complete so the text in { bold } are my edits and additions. --------- Jesus Told this story about {the younger son } who ran away: Once upon a time, there {were two sons and their} dad. Now one day, the boy gets to thinking, “Maybe if I didn’t have my dad around telling me what is good for me all the time, I’d be happier. He’s spoiling my fun,” he thinks. “Does my dad really want me to be happy? Does my dad really love me?” This {younger} son never thought of that before. But suddenly he doesn’t know anymore. So the {younger} son goes to his father and says, “Dad, I’m better off without you. I can look after myself. Just give me my share of your money.” His father is sad but he won’t force his {younger} boy to stay. So he gives his son what he wants. The {younger} son takes the money and goes on a long, long journey to a far off country. And everything’s wonderful and perfect – for a while. He can go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants, be whoever he wants. He is the boss, he is free! Sometimes he gets a strange, hungry, homesick feeling inside his heart, but then he just eats more, or drinks more, or buys more clothes, or goes to more parties until it goes away. But soon his money runs out – and so do his friends. He ends up getting the only job he can find: Feeding pigs. One day he is so hungry and so desperate he even tries some piggy food – “What am I doing” he says suddenly, as if he has woken from a nightmare. He spits – YUCK! – all of it – ICK! – out of his mouth. “My father is rich and here I am – in a pig sty, eating pig food!” He wipes his mouth and dusts himself off. “I’m going home!” And he starts for home, he begins to worry. “Dad won’t love me anymore. I’ve been to bad. He won’t want me for his son anymore.” So he practices his I’m-Sorry-Speech-I’ll-Pay-You-Back. {He thought “I’ll simply work for my dad until I pay him back. Maybe I can live with the neighbors.}” All this time, what he doesn’t know is that, day after day, his dad has been standing on his porch, straining his eyes, looking into the distance, waiting for his son to come home. He just can’t stop loving him. He longs for the sound of his boy’s voice. He can’t be happy until he gets him back. The {younger} son is still a long way off, but his dad sees him coming. What will the dad do? Fold his arms and frown? Shout, “That’ll teach you!” and “Just you wait, young man!” No. That’s not how this story goes. {The dad was waiting!} The dad leaps off the porch, races down the hill, through the gap in the hedge, up the rod. Before his {younger} son can even {finish} his I’m-Sorry-Speech-I’ll-Pay-You-Back-Speech, his dad runs to him, throws his arms around him, and can’t stop kissing him. {The dad hugged him tight and said very loudly “I love you my son!” Then he told people to help get him ready.} “Let’s have a party!” his dad shouts. “My {younger} boy’s home. He ran away. I lost him – but now I have him back! {Here is a ring of the family that I place on his finger so nobody has any doubts! This is my son!}” Jesus told them, “God is like the dad who couldn’t stop loving his boy. And people are like the son who said, “Does my dad really want to be happy?” Jesus told people this story to show them what God is like. And to show people what they are like. So they could know, however far they ran, however well they hid, however lost they were – it wouldn’t matter. Because God’s children could never run too far, or be too lost, for God to find them. {God’s love would save them!} {Then Jesus spoke about the older son. While all the celebrating of the younger son was going on the older son came home. This dad also had an older son who did good things – he worked the fields of his father and did what his father told him to do. The older son came to the house and asked one of his father’s servants “What is going on? What’s all the fuss about?” The servant said “Your younger brother is safe and has come home! Your dad is throwing a huge party!” This made the older brother very mad. He would not come in. This saddened his dad a lot. So the dad came out to talk to the older son and said: “Come in and see your brother! He’s come home!” The older son yelled at his dad saying “All these years I’ve served you. I never dishonored you and you didn’t ever throw ME a party this big! As soon as this rebellious son who has wasted what you gave him comes home you not only receive him back with a big hug but throw him the biggest party this town has ever seen! Haven’t I earned a big party too?” The dad calmly said: “You have been with me all these years. I love you. You can’t earn my love I simply choose to love you. What I have is yours. It is good for us to celebrate your brother returning home and the reunion of our family. Your brother left and was lost to us – he chose his own path.” And then in an excited voice the dad continued: “But now he’s back and so I threw a party.” So Jesus told this second part of the story to help the people see they couldn’t earn God’s love by simply doing good things. } ------ What are your thoughts?