One day while Mr. Peters was walking down the back streets of a large city, he came to two homeless, dirty men sifting through the trash in a dumpster in search of food. He stopped and asked them if they would like something to eat. They stared at him in amazement as though such kindness had not been shown them before. Finally one of the men answered, “Yes.”
A sandwich store was not very far away, and the three men started walking to it. Mr. Peters found it difficult to walk close to them because of their odor. Homeless people have no place to wash themselves.
As they came close to the store, one of the men looked down at himself and said sadly, “I can’t go in there; I’m too dirty.”
“I’ll bring something out to you,” Mr. Peters told them.
When Mr. Peters returned with a bag of sandwiches, the man who had said he was too dirty stepped forward as though he wanted to hug him. Not wanting to get that close, Mr. Peters stepped back out of the way.
Later Mr. Peters realized he didn’t have the heart of the father in Luke chapter 15 who ran to greet his lost son. That father threw his arms around his ragged, dirty son and covered him with kisses. The son may have smelled like pigs since he had been working and eating with them. But his father didn’t care. He had been watching and waiting for his son for a long time. And when he saw his son finally coming home, he loved him so much he didn’t care what he looked like or what he smelled like. He ran to meet him and wrapped his arms around his son and kissed him.
That’s the way God loves us. He doesn’t wait until we’re all cleaned up and nicely dressed. We are all sinners, covered with our filthy sins and with no way to wash them off. But He says, “Come now . . . though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
The man who wanted to hug Mr. Peters saw him step back and instead gave him a kindly slap on the back and a hearty “thank you.”
The father in Luke 15 had shown such unconditional love for his son that he won his son’s heart. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
“But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry.”
And that’s what God our Father has planned for any sinner who will come to Him and accept His unconditional love. That love has provided a Saviour to wash us clean from our filthy sins. Will you come to Him right now? “Our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity” (Titus 2:13-1413Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:13‑14)).
ML-12/07/1997