“See what I wrote, Grandpa?” Edward held up a blue card with red letters on it.

“ ‘I love you Dad—You’re the Best!’ ” Grandpa’s eyes twinkled. “I’ve heard that before; but there are other times we dads aren’t liked so much. Let me tell you a story about

A Father’s Love

(Reference: Luke 15:11-24.)

There was once a boy, whom we will call Zack, the son of a hard-working farmer. But Zack didn’t always think he had a good father. “Ben has his own cart and goes where he wants,” he complained to his older brother. “Father’s an old miser to keep us here and make us work. When I’m big, I’m going to leave.”

So Zack would grumble and get out of as much work as he could. “I want money to go to the city,” he begged his father. Father was always kind, but firm. “Son, I want the best for you. Running off won’t help anything.” But Zack never quit thinking about the great day when he could leave home.

The day came when Zack was given his share of the living. It was Father’s savings from years of hard work, but Zack didn’t care. It was his now; and he was off to fulfill his dreams, leaving a sad-faced father far behind. There were parties and sleepovers, friends, and all the desserts he wanted. Zack said in delight, “At last I am free from Father’s watchful eye and can enjoy myself!”

But riches soon flee, and there came a day Zack spent his last penny. Now he had nowhere to get bread or shelter, for his friends lasted only as long as his money. Zack could do nothing but search for a job. “I’m sorry son,” he heard over and over, “times are bad and we need good workers. I can’t hire you.”

It was when Zack was near despair that a swine-herder offered him work. He had been taught all his life to despise pigs, but he took the position as his last hope. Alone and miserable, Zack looked with disgust at the snorting greedy herd as he fed them their husks. He looked at himself: now a ragged, starving boy far, far from home. “Why am I here?” he asked himself. “Surely working as my father’s hired hand would be better than this!”

So it was a dirty dejected boy who tramped home at last. Zack hoped his father would at least give him a chance to work in the fields. But who was that man running to meet him? Father’s arms were stretched wide and tears were trickling down his cheeks. “Oh, Father,” Zack said, burying his face in a strong shoulder, “I have done wrong to you! I am not fit to be called your son.”

There was no reply from the kind loving man that held him close. Shouting was filling the air now, and over his bowed head Zack heard Father call, “Make ready a feast and bring the best robe. My son who was dead is alive again—the son who was lost is now found!”

“I think I see what you mean,” Edward said slowly, when Grandpa had finished. “It didn’t seem like his dad loved him, but he really did.”

“He loved him because he wanted what was best for him,” said Alice.

“Yes, that is the true kind of love,” agreed Grandpa. “But it is the hardest love to show to people sometimes.”

“Why?” asked Sammy.

“Well, think about how your father has to discipline you when you are naughty. He does it because he loves you and wants you to live right, but it is not easy to do.”

“It doesn’t feel good either,” said Sammy.

“But if we didn’t get punished, we might get in big trouble and go to jail or something,” said Edward. “I love my dad, even if he does have to punish me sometimes.”

“It’s a good thing, too,” Alice began, then she added more slowly, “but I guess we all need correction and to be taught to do the right thing. I guess fathers are important people and they have a big job.”

“We call God our Father, too,” said Sammy. “Does He love us with a hard love?”

“Yes, He surely does,” Grandpa said. “He loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to do anything wrong. It is sin and wickedness that makes people’s lives sad and miserable. God corrects us and deals with our hearts so that we will live right. Everything He does, even when it seems like a bad thing, He does because He loves us.”

“God does everything right, so I think He is the best Father of all,” said Edward.