And the son said unto 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: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:21-24). Just like the prodigal son, we often take it upon ourselves to decide if and when we are no more worthy to be called the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. And just as it was with the prodigal son, it is not up to us to decide whether or not we are worthy. Our Heavenly Father is anxiously waiting and watching from a great way off for us to come to ourselves and realize that wasting away our lives is not worth it and that the best thing we can do is to return to Him. He alone has the power and authority to decide if we are no more worthy to be called His children. All we can do is swallow our pride and offer up the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Perhaps while the prodigal son was wasting his substance with riotous living, but as he forsook his rebellious ways and made the long, hard journey back to his father, he discovered his worthiness once more. We can all try to make our way back to our Father regardless of what we have done, and if we will exercise the courage to do so, we may just find out that our Father considers us worthy still.
