Not what I deserve

I've had ideas, nearly made it to the keyboard a few times, but just haven't updated this blog in a while.

Funny thing is, sometimes I think things like that happen because God's not done with a previous idea yet.

That notion came full circle for me with this week's Sunday morning sermon. It was about Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. Oh boy, heard this one a few times before, right? Wrong.

As the pastor spoke, he emphasized this crazy notion of grace. The idea that we don't pay the penalty for our wrongs. Instead, someone else -- Jesus -- pays the penalty despite doing everything right.

It's not fair is it? But that's just it. The prodigal son came home knowing what he deserved, but instead of an "I told you so" and being sent to live with the servants, he got a feast and a festival. He got grace.

And so it goes for us. Heaven knows we don't want what we deserve, yikes! We want grace ... which brings me back to my post about Easter being for me and my plank-eyed soul.

What I was really trying to say is that Easter is about being offered grace, even when I don't deserve it. It's about someone else paying the penalty for my wrongs. It's about a father, a Heavenly Father, that not only welcomes me home but runs to meet me.

He knows I've been slopping hogs and squandering my gifts. He knows I deserve nothing more than a swift kick to the posterior and that I am inferior.

But he gives me a party hat and some presents, and says, "Welcome back."

That's not what I deserve, but that's grace, that's Easter, that is a miracle!