pWe’ve heard the Prodigal Son story a million times, in a million different ways. So, zoom to verse 20, and let’s focus on just one word. ‘Esplanchnisthē’. (No, don’t worry. It’s not a cold. It’s Greek.) It’s from the verb ‘splagchnizomai’, which we mostly translate as ‘to have compassion’. Thing is, though, it’s a bit stronger than that, and a bit more to do with bowels. It’s more along the lines of being *so* moved by something, that you feel it deep in your stomach. The closest translation that we have is, actually, probably ‘gut wrenched’. Go back and read verse 20 again with that in mind. ‘…when he was still far away, his father saw him, and loved him so much that it felt like someone had grabbed a handful of his internal organs, and aimed a suckerpunch at his belly…’ That’d be the W4U translation of Luke 15:20. Fun fact. The only other times we see the ‘splagchnizomai’ used in the Bible, the only other times that we see someone truly ‘gut-wrenched’ by their love for humanity, it’s Jesus. And it’s always followed by Him doing something about it. That, reader, is what it means to care. That’s the heart of the Father, the love of God, carried to earth by the Son. Jesus felt our pain so deeply in His own gut, that He let His blood be spilled to fix it./p
pem strongWhat Now? /strong/em br /
If you feel ready, ask to see things from God’s point of view. Ask to be ‘gut-wrenched’ by what He wants you to care for. The Holy Spirit’s here on earth to allow us to do that. Spend 45 minutes simply sitting, praying, and listening./p