THE FINEST CALF

One of the tools in the hand of the devil that drives men to depression and “death” is guilt. I met a man some years back who left his family and business for a village because he was searching for how to hide from the guilt he felt so heavily in his heart. However, the deeper he went into hiding, the more the guilt arises in his heart. He was delivered when He met with the gospel of righteousness despite being a “Christian” for many years.



Have you done some things and you feel you are no longer worthy to be a child of God? I mean, when you think about those things you have done in the past, do you feel so bad about yourself that your spirit droops?



Let me explain God’s perspective of this to you.





The story of the prodigal son is one that gives a profound insight into God’s love shared in the scriptures. The young man stood up one day and felt he needed his independence. He wanted his share of the father’s property. This was really against the order. It was a great insult on the father. His action meant two things: he wished the father was dead and that he never had need of him.



One of the most intriguing things about this event was that the father agreed immediately to divide his wealth between his sons so that the younger one who demanded for his portion can have it. The young man went all the way, squandering his inheritance but one thing could never be traded away; his genealogy. Irrespective of what he did, he is still the son of the father. And suddenly, he came to the realization of how good the father was to his servants, so, he went back hoping to be received as a servant. But, it was too late; the blood of the father that flows in his vein cannot be replaced.



The father received him back without any mention of what he had done. It was the boy who kept agonizing on what he did. What he didn’t know was that even before he had a change of heart, the father had already forgiven him because He doesn’t keep records of sin. The boy felt he was no longer worthy of a son, he wanted to be a slave based on his own measure of the situation which actually sounded logical but the father surprised him with “the finest calf” in the pen.



This calf is described as “the” calf, not a calf which meant it had been preserved for a special purpose. There was no two of its kind. And the son knew what it meant to kill the only cow in the pen. The father was very wealthy but there was a particular calf given so much attention that it was only the one. The father had to slaughter this so the son would know nothing is held against him.


The elder son’s comment showed how much this calf was precious when he got back home to discover there was a celebration going on because his backslidden brother just returned.



“…yet when this son of yours comes back after spending your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the FINEST CALF we have on the place” Luke 15:30



Each time the devil brings cloud of guilt up in your heart and you feel God doesn’t want you, you can be sure that is a “logical lie”. He is not just ready to kill the finest calf for you to prove He is not mad at you, He already did. “His finest calf” is Jesus; the only Son of God who became the first of His kind.



Jesus is a proof of God to man that He is not angry with mankind. The prodigal son had to see all of that to be fully convinced that the father had absolutely nothing against him. If He could give up the Son for you, what could be greater than that? The devil doesn’t want you to see this Just the same way he made Eve feel God wasn’t in favour of them, He does so today with the tool of guilt. He is not mad at you, rejoice in this and approach Him for a warm embrace.



God never changes. His identity is love.
Hope you’d enjoy your week better swimming in the wonder of His love.



Be Innovated
Olufemi Ibitoye