Fourth Sunday in Lent

What is it in our Christian lives that makes us happiest?  The Bible reading this week is the parable of the prodigal (son).  This is one of Jesus’ greatest parables because in it we see the heart of the Father.  The Father delights in a repentant sinner.  In the charity CAP, a bell was rung in the head office every time someone came to faith through the ministry of CAP.  This must be like the response in heaven as God delights in someone coming to faith.  Earlier on in the Biblical narrative, the shepherd goes looking for the one sheep who went astray from the ninety-nine.  God is like that.  He is passionate about welcoming people into the kingdom from all walks of life, backgrounds and circumstances.  Back to the question at the start about what makes us happiest?  If we love God, we need to re-discover his heart in ours.  His greatest joy should be our greatest joy.  How wonderful for everyone, one day, to come to know God as God.  We should all strive to hasten that day by every possible means.  Or, in the words of the classic hymn by Arthur Campbell Ainger, “nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.”  That, surely, above all else, should make us happiest.