Part of me is the prodigal

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:20-24

This is a cheesy, Christian pop song, but I don't even care. The lyrics are just too good.

"Always have, always will"--Avalon
Part of me is the prodigal, part of me is the other brother
But I think the heart of me is really somewhere between them
Some days I'm running wild, Some days I'm reconciled
And I wonder all the while why you put up with me
When I wrestle most days to find ways to do as I please

I was born with a wayward heart, still I live with a restless spirit
My soul is so well worn, you'd think I'd have arrived by now
I'm caught in the trappings of, my search for lasting love
I've made mistakes enough to last me a lifetime
I still slip, I still fall, but I'll always run back to you

Stop trying to clean the house and open the door

Last night as I was trying to figure out what to do with my new-found free time (obviously the internet won out over the overwhelming pile of dishes in the sink) I ran across the Stuff Christians Like blog. I've read snippets of it before and enjoyed it, but I really liked his post yesterday. Take a look: #458 Fixing our motives.

I totally do this more often than I'd like to think--try to fix things on my own before coming to God. Let's take a moment (or a lot longer) to be thankful that we can't fix ourselves, but God can and is just waiting on us to open the door and let him in.

EDIT: Right after I wrote this, it hit me that it also ties in with the Mary and Martha dilemma (Luke 10:38-42). Food for thought.