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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
1 John 1:9

The Dutch Master painter Rembrandt van Rijn completed one of his most famous works shortly before he died in 1669. His painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son, is based on Jesus’ parable about the wastrel son who squandered his inheritance but was forgiven and welcomed home in spite of his rebellion (Luke 15:11-32).

The parable of the Prodigal Son has many applications. It was about God’s passion for seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10). It was about the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders as portrayed by the prodigal’s older brother (Luke 15:25-30). It was about God’s desire for lost Israel to return to Him (Luke 15:31). But most of all it was about the love of God—the welcoming and unconditional love of God—as portrayed by the prodigal’s father. In this story, the prodigal son did everything wrong and nothing right. Yet his father heaped forgiveness and love upon the son when he returned home after coming to his senses. That is the true love of God.

Never doubt God’s welcoming and unconditional love for you. If you will return to Him, He will be faithful to forgive you and cleanse you and embrace you.

The way to cover our sin is to uncover it by confession.
Richard Sibbes