Today’s WAWA was purely running focused so it’s only appropriate that I tell you a story that involves “running”.  Now, when I tell you this story, you’re probably going to recognize it by another title.  But for the sake of today’s devotional, I’m going to follow the storyline as it was told for many years in the ancient Middle Eastern Church….the story of “The Running Father” which comes to us in Luke, Chapter 15.

In modern times, we know this parable as that of the Prodigal Son.  You are familiar with the story as told by Jesus.  A family has two sons and one goes away to a foreign land and squanders away all his share of his inheritance.  He shamefully returns to his family, thinking he would only be fit to eat with the hogs in the field.  However, his father opens his arms to his long-lost son.  All is forgiven.

That’s the modern version of our story.

Now, let me tell you the significance of the Middle Eastern version, which focuses more on the role of the father….and not on the son.

I said earlier that this would be a running story.  Back in those days, men never ran anywhere.  Never ever!  There were a couple reasons for this.  First, running was said to be “child’s play” so adults would not run as to be ridiculed as children and never taken seriously.  Secondly, men wore long tunics (or robes) back in those days, so if they were to run, they’d have to pull up on the tunic, expose their legs, in order to develop any sort of stride.  At any rate, the exposing of one’s legs, in those times, was considered humiliating and disgraceful.

The father sees his son from a very long way away, and picks up a run to meet him.  Some scholars believe the father ran in order to meet his son before he entered the town.  Jewish tradition had it that if a family member lost his family’s wealth in a foreign land, that the town would surround him, break a clay pot near his feet, thus symbolizing that he was cut off from his family and his town.

So, the father is running to get to his son in hopes that he would be spared from the Jewish customs.  He not only ran to get ahead of the other villagers, but he ran to stay ahead of justice and what was widely considered to be reasonable and fair.  Instead, the father took the shame upon his own shoulders, sparing his son any humiliation.

How many times have we looked at this story from the eyes of the prodigal son?  Today, I’d ask you to consider the parable from the viewpoint of the running father.  Just as the father in this story puts everything aside to gather his son up in his arms, kiss him on the cheek, and call for a banquet in his honor, our Heavenly Father would willingly do the same for us.

The next time you think there’s no turning back to our Father in heaven, remember that He too will run to us, scoop us up in His arms, and welcome us home when we return from going astray.

If I shared with you what’s been happening around me the last 60 hours it might give you some reason to pause. But before I share a few details, I’ll first say that I know my life pales in comparison to what some endure for much more than just 60 hours.  I am grateful for some calm in what has been a rough few days of seas.

Over the weekend, on Saturday, I was getting a haircut and having my truck washed close to Noon.  I stopped into a local deli here in Charlotte to buy some chicken salad and pimento cheese spreads that my wife had asked me to pick up on the way home.  I figured I’d only be in the deli a few minutes so I just left my cell phone in the truck as I went inside.  The purchase took a little longer because I saw a couple friends and made small talk while waiting in line to pay the cashier.  When I got back to the truck, my wife had texted me saying “Call me as soon as you get this.  It’s URGENT!”.

I knew something was up since she’d never sent me that kind of message before.  “Your dad’s had a heart attack and they’re transporting him to the emergency room.  Call your mom ASAP.” were the words I heard when I finally called home.  I raced home, got a few more details, then raced to the hospital to meet my parents.  Dad had indeed suffered a heart attack, not the mention, paramedics had to shock him to get his heart rate back in rhythm.  I spent the next several hours talking to doctors, meeting with my parents, and relaying important details to family members.

We monitored progress over the weekend and listened to a plan that the doctors described would take place over the next several days.  Most signs seemed to say Dad would need a pacemaker implanted, but the docs wanted to run a few more tests to be sure. Read More

I had been thinking about the Land of Oz ever since my two younger nieces traveled up to the Beech Mountain theme park this past weekend….following the yellow brick road all along the way.  So this morning’s workout was loosely derived from some stories my sister-in-law was telling me when they got back last Sunday.

In today’s running workout, there were two hidden messages; were you able to put the pieces together to solve the puzzles?  Each puzzle was a verse from scripture that ties into today’s devotional.  I’ll circle back to those two verses in just a minute.  First, however, a little side story….

September 14th marks my dad’s 75th birthday.  Yesterday, I picked him up from a local Charlotte medical center because he had an outpatient eye surgery and would not be able to drive himself back to their home in South Charlotte.  My sister and I split the duties, her dropping off dad and mom in the late morning, and me picking them up in the early afternoon.  My mom is recovering from a knee replacement a couple weeks ago, so they really did need some help from my sister and me to get them around. Read More