BBC Radio Devon Pause for thought - Monday Fresh starts In the rhythm of the year this is a time of renewed energy, of fresh starts, of new beginnings. And I’m a new speaker. It’s a privilege to be able to share with you over the coming week. I work as a hospice doctor, but that isn’t who I am, it doesn’t define me. I am first and foremost a Christian, a much loved son of my heavenly Father, and that permeates everything I am and do, so you’ll notice that underpinning the thoughts I have for you this week. There are some churches that are gracious enough, or foolish enough, to ask me to preach occasionally and over the last few months I have been captivated afresh by the story that Jesus told of the Prodigal Son. If I were to stand up when preaching, or while speaking here on air, and shout a string obscenities I guess most people would be utterly shocked and I wouldn’t be invited back. Yet what Jesus says in this story would have had such an impact on his hearers of the day. He tells the story of a son who disowns his father and runs off to squander his inheritance. He falls on hard times and in utter desperation decides to return home and ask if he can be a slave on his father’s estate. But his father never abandons him emotionally, and is waiting and longing to welcome him back, not as a slave but as a much-loved son and heir. It was shocking because in the culture of the day such a son should have been stoned to death, but his father’s outrageous love turns everything upside down. This is a picture of God’s love for each one of us – his sons and daughters. He is the God of fresh starts. The message of the Gospel is that God is for us. No matter who we are, no matter what we’ve done, no matter where we’ve run, God is for us. And he’s always ready to welcome us home; to start afresh.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 06:31:59 +0000
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