Text by Justin Lim

What was it about the lost sheep that brought the shepherd so much joy that when he left the other ninety in the field to search for it, he carried it home on his shoulders? What was it about the lost coin that the woman celebrated when she found it after sweeping her entire house? What was it about the prodigal son that when the father saw him returning, ran to welcome him with an embrace, warm kisses and threw a party to rejoice in the prodigal son’s return?

The answer, in fact, is nothing at all.

There was nothing about the lost sheep that deserved its shepherd’s leaving the rest of his flock to look for it. The sheep certainly didn’t deserve to be carried on his shoulders back to the rest of the flock, since it had wandered off on its own to begin with. And the lost coin? Frankly, isn’t it absurd to throw a celebration for the finding of a single coin?

The prodigal son certainly didn’t deserve the restoration and celebration his father lavished on him. He was the boy who was rebellious and disrespectful enough to ask for his inheritance. He was the boy who squandered it all on riotous living and fair-weather friends. The prodigal son was the boy who made the choice to return home out of a desperate need to survive, rather than out of love and repentance.

I don’t know about you, but I found it amazing how all of those three parables were about something lost and when found, there was such extravagant joy in the ‘finder’ that it was far more than what was naturally expected in such a situation.

The reason? It was because the lost sheep was a delight to its shepherd. The lost coin was a delight to the woman. The prodigal son was a delight to his father. For example, take the parable of the prodigal son that Pastor Benjamin shared. Did the son really do anything to deserve the welcome his father gave him when he returned? Did the son really deserve the warm embrace, the kisses, or the lavish celebrations?

No.

I believe most of us would agree that if there was one thing he deserved, it was a good beating and perhaps years of service to the father as penance. But what actually happened was what the son received the complete opposite of what he truly deserved.

Why? Simply because the prodigal son, despite his heinous act of rebellion, was the delight of the father.

Whenever someone tells me that I am a delight to them, it brings a little skip of joy to my heart and a smile to my face. I believe it is the same for everyone. Deep down inside of us, I believe, is a heartfelt cry for acceptance and to be a delight to someone. We all want to know that someone is delighted with us.

However, how we delight in someone can never be on the same level as how our Daddy God delights in us. What are we saying when we tell someone we delight in them? As much as we want to truly love someone for who they are, there is a part of us that wants to be loved back. When we delight in someone, it can sometimes be because that person has been so good to us. But never our Daddy God, you and me, we are such a delight to our Daddy God simply because we are made to be so.

As I looked back on the service on Saturday, this question came up: Who are we? Who are we that the King of this entire universe, delights in us? Who are we that God Himself delights so much in us that He bore our sins to personally clothe us in His righteousness?

We were lost, but even then we were such a delight to Him that He came down to our level to bear all the punishment was rightfully ours. Let us stop hiding, take off the masks, stand before him with all that we have, even if all that we have is nothing but dirt.

Because we have a Daddy God who delights in us more than we can ever imagine. So much so that He is not just going to change our life; He is the transformation that we need.

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