Coming Home - a Devotional for the Prodigal Heartഉദാഹരണം

Day Six:

Don’t Forget to Celebrate

Scripture Focus:
“We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” — Luke 15:32 (NIV)
“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” — Psalm 126:3 (NIV)
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you... He will rejoice over you with singing.” — Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

Devotional:
Joy can feel awkward when you’ve spent a long time in survival mode.

When you’ve been the one crawling out of the pigpen, trying to piece your life back together, joy can feel… unearned. Undeserved. Like maybe it’s for other people—people who didn’t mess up, didn’t wander, didn’t crash and burn like you did.

But Scripture doesn’t present joy as a reward for the righteous. It presents it as the rightful response to redemption.

In Luke 15, when the prodigal son returns home, the father doesn’t ask him to sit in silence or prove himself worthy. He throws a party. And not a pitiful, awkward one—an extravagant celebration. Robe. Ring. Ribeye. The works.

It wasn’t because the son had done something impressive. It was because he had come home.

Joy, in the Kingdom of God, is not earned. It’s given.

It reminds me of Nehemiah 8. After the exiles returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they had a moment of collective repentance. They wept as the Law was read aloud—convicted by how far they’d drifted from God’s ways. But do you know what Nehemiah told them?

“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

God wasn’t inviting them to wallow in guilt. He was inviting them to rejoice in grace.

Psalm 126 says “we were like those who dreamed”—and I wonder if that’s how it feels when joy returns after a long season of loss. Like a dream you forgot you were allowed to have.

And then there’s Zephaniah 3:17, which still undoes me. Not only does God delight in you—He sings over you. Not when you “get it right.” Not when you prove your worth. When you’re His.

So don’t apologize for the lightness you feel. Don’t tone down your gratitude. Don’t ignore the sacred moments that deserve a shout of praise. Celebration isn’t distraction—it’s declaration. It says, “God has brought me through.”

Let your joy be loud.

Takeaway:
Celebration isn’t optional—it’s biblical. It reminds your soul that God’s grace not only restores, it rejoices.

Prayer:
God, help me stop downplaying what You’ve done in my life. Teach me to embrace joy—not just as a feeling, but as a form of worship. You’ve brought me through the dark, and I won’t keep quiet about it. Let my gratitude echo louder than my guilt.

Journal Prompt:
What’s something God has done for you that you haven’t stopped to celebrate?
Write it down. Then list one way you can mark that moment—through a small act of joy, gratitude, or remembrance.