The Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15: 11-32 is a stunning lesson on compassion and forgiveness, confession and redemption. There is so much to linger over in each rich movement of the hearts in this story that Jesus told. It was a parable that scandalized His legalistic listeners, because a son who would squander his inheritance on partying and profligate living was to be completely rejected. As a vengeance tale it was an often-told story that Jesus, in His version, turned into an example of grace and mercy that never looks to the social affront, but to the soul that has gone missing and is relentlessly loved beyond all rationality.

It is verse 20 in this parable that pursues me every day: “And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.” The father actually watched the distant horizon every day, many times through the day, and he even knew the silhouette of the young man over great spans of hills and valleys. The son left with the haste that focused only on his own worldly pleasure, with no desire to return, and still the father watched longingly everyday.

Couldn’t the father have walked with a solemn sternness? Couldn’t he have waited for the penitent to grovel and then dismissed him with disdain? Couldn’t the father have soothed his own loss by trying to forget the image of the vain son and never have looked to the distance for a return? No! Instead this father runs with complete abandon for the little speck that he sees trudging dejectedly along a country slope. And he falls upon him with the kisses and hugs normally afforded to a returning warrior. This father is an Olympian marathoner of love! And this son receives the father’s gold medal for the race.

In the image that I have posted for this story about the running father, several things strike me: The daughter’s gait is so like the father’s. She is behind him and learning about the best ways to train for endurance and strength. The joy in her pace shows that there is no better trainer than this father of hers who has always run for her. He has taken her to the seashore for this jog, as it will be kinder to her young legs to learn well in this place. The father’s strength inspires the hope in his child that one day she too will know exactly when, where, and how to accelerate her pace without her Papa. The sun in this place makes for the warmth of tendons and muscles providing the excellence of the venue. He takes her to a place of such loveliness that the lesson will carry with it the beauty of his love for her in indelible memories.

I want to learn to run like my heavenly Father has always run for me!

Couldn’t He have strolled over and chastised such a selfish and lost soul? The run that He made extracted me incisively from such an enveloping quicksand that I can still see his speed through the dirt covering even my eyes. His good right arm to lift immediately washed me in His forgiveness. How did He recognize me from my sin-sick distance so far away from His protective covering? He always knew and loved my form. He waited and watched for me to look homeward to Him. Instantly His swiftness brought my escape into His embrace.

He now takes me to run in a place where I get to see how my gait can be like his—full of mercy and grace. The speed He trains for can only be given supernaturally by His Holy Spirit to love in places of darkness and deep disappointment. He knows I am growing up, becoming more like Him with each outing along the sea. He takes me to the places where training is optimal--where I can see Him and feel the Sun of Righteousness warming my growth in Him. Seeing Him before me, I’m struck by the beauty and might of His form to run to help me if I stumble. Wherever I go with Him is a Papa-beautiful place imprinted upon my heart to want a gait just like His!

Watch for Him--it won’t be a blur--but it will be astounding for He is the God who runs! Why would He have to come with such urgency? Time does belong to Him and the pace is His to set. He runs to be with us, as He knows that we need Him immediately whether along a shoreline, or at the 3:00am watch upon our beds. The God who runs is present instantaneously and He is the Papa-Present in His arrival along any golden shore!