You don't need to have the speech ready

There’s a thing I do sometimes - maybe you do it too.

I rehearse conversations in my head before I have them. I run through what I’ll say, how I’ll say it, what they might reply. Sometimes that’s just being prepared. But sometimes it becomes a reason never to actually start.

The son in Luke 15 did the same thing. He’d walked away from home, wasted everything, ended up in a pig field with nothing. And when he finally came to his senses, he started rehearsing. He had a whole speech worked out - careful, logical, apologetic. He was going to ask to be taken on as a servant.

But here’s the thing: while he was still rehearsing, his father was already running.

Luke 15:20 says the father saw him “still a long way off” and ran to him. In Jesus’s culture, that was remarkable - even scandalous. Older men didn’t run. But this father didn’t care. He’d been watching the road, and the moment he saw that familiar figure in the distance, he went.

The running started before the returning was complete.

That’s the picture Jesus gives us of God. Not reluctant. Not weary of you. Not waiting to see if you’ve got it together. Zephaniah 3:17 says he delights in you - he sings over you.

You don’t need the speech ready. You just need to take one step.

I unpacked all of this in this morning’s short devotional - it’s about five minutes and I think it’ll stay with you. Watch it here:

Grace and peace.

Rob

Read this week’s devotionals here - https://open.substack.com/pub/battledrilldevotional/p/what-if-generosity-isnt-about-money?r=643q6o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true