Neither son understands that the father’s love was never about any of that. The father’s love cannot be earned, and it cannot be taken away.
It just is.
It’s a party,
a celebration,
an occasion without beginning and without end.
It goes on, well into the night,
and into the next day,
and the next
and the next.
Without any finish in sight.
Your deepest, darkest sins and your shameful secrets are simply irrelevant when it comes to the counterintuitive, ecstatic announcement of the gospel.
So are your goodness, your rightness, your church attendance, and all of the wise, moral, mature decisions you have made and actions you have taken.
It simply doesn’t matter when it comes to the surprising, unexpected declaration that God’s love simply is yours.
— Rob Bell, Love Wins, p. 187-188