"Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living."
-Luke 15:13

Twenty-year-old American Lindsey Jacobellis was the favorite to win gold in the Olympic debut for snowboard cross. Nearing the end of the final race she had a huge lead, but she got carried away by trying to add some style on the second-to-last jump and fell to the ground. It was at that point that the world seemingly came to an end for everyone but Jacobellis. She got up and finished 2nd, but was bombarded by criticism from media, fans and other riders after the race. "How could she do such a stupid thing? Doesn't she care about winning the gold, or about her country?"

The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) messed up big time too, and he ended up with the pigs and no food to eat. Then he came to his senses and decided to return to his father, seek forgiveness and offer himself as a hired servant. But when his daddy saw him, he ran to him, embraced his lost son and threw a party for him. The elder son, however, wasn't so thrilled with his dad's graciousness and became bitter toward him and his brother.

I'm not saying that Lindsey Jacobellis didn't mess up, and neither is she. "I was having fun," she said. "Snowboarding is fun. I was ahead.

I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd. I messed up." Isn't it funny how people will complain that coaches and athletes too often lose sight of the fact that it's just a game and that it's supposed to be fun. Then something like this happens and all of the sudden they're having too much fun, and they don't care enough. I believe there has to be a balance there, but you can't tell me that Lindsey Jacobellis didn't want to or wasn't trying to win. She made a mistake, she acknowledged the mistake. Let's extend some grace and move on.

Today, know that if you have been living foolishly, you have a Father who will extend His grace to you when you come back to Him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Josh Carter is an East Central Illinois FCA Representative. A former high school teacher and coach, Josh is happily married to his wife Dena. They have two children, Aaron and Kindall.

In Jesus' name, Amen.