What if something you thought was gone forever suddenly showed up in your life again?
Would you be salty… or sweet?
Maybe it’s an old boyfriend you haven’t thought about in years.
Maybe it’s that friend who moved away and you miss them more than you ever said out loud.
Maybe it’s that favorite piece of clothing someone borrowed and never brought back.
Or maybe it’s something deeper.
A dream.
A relationship.
A second chance.
If something you thought was lost suddenly showed back up in your life… how would you respond?
I was reading Luke 15 today about the son who demanded his inheritance from his father and disappeared.
After some time away, he decided to come home.
And the moment the father saw him coming down the road, everything changed.
The father didn’t wait for explanations or even apologies. He didn’t make him earn his way back.
Luke 15:22 says the father immediately told the servants,
Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.
Three things.
A robe. A ring. And shoes.
Not just a robe. The best robe.
In wealthy homes during that time, the finest robe usually belonged to the father himself. The father looked around and realized the best robe in the house was hanging in his own closet.
And he gave it away.
Then he gave him a ring.
In the ancient world a ring represented identity and authority. It wasn’t just jewelry. It signified that the person wearing it belonged to the family. Rings often functioned as signet seals in the ancient Near East, representing family authority and status (Genesis 41:42 shows a similar use of a signet ring). The father wasn’t just welcoming him home.
He was restoring him.
Then he gave him shoes.
In that culture servants often went barefoot, while sons wore sandals. By putting shoes on his feet, the father was making a public statement. This is not a servant returning to work. This is my son returning home.
The son walked up looking like a servant. The father said, Not in this house. Put shoes on his feet.
A robe.
A ring.
And shoes.
That’s what sweetness looks like when something comes back into your life.
But not everyone in the story responded that way.
The older brother heard the music and the celebration and became angry. Luke 15:28 says he refused to go inside.
Instead of celebrating restoration, he stood outside bitter.
Salty.
He had the same father, same home, same inheritance.
But his perspective limited his joy.
The father was sweet. The brother was salty.
And that contrast raises a question for all of us. Because sweetness creates celebration.
Luke 15:24 says, This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate.
Music. Dancing. Joy!!
But bitterness limits everything. It limits generosity.
It limits perspective.
It limits joy.
And sometimes it even limits what God can place in our hands.
Because if God brought something back into your life… would you treat it right?
Would you celebrate? Or would you resent it?
The truth is every one of us has been the son in this story. And when we came back to God, He didn’t greet us with punishment.
He greeted us with restoration.
Isaiah 61:10 says He has clothed me with garments of salvation and covered me with a robe of righteousness.
A robe.
Romans 8:15 says we received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, Abba, Father.
A ring of sonship.
Ephesians 2:19 says we are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of His household.
Shoes that say we belong.
God has been sweet to us. So today the real question isn’t whether something comes back into your life. The real question is what kind of person you are when it does.
Salty… or sweet
Who has given you a robe when you didn’t deserve one?
Who welcomed you when they didn’t have to?
Who treated you like family when you felt like you had messed everything up?
Take a moment today and tell them thank you.
And if you want to surround yourself with people who live with that kind of perspective, generosity, and growth mindset, I want to invite you into something special.
LCircle of Friends is a community of people committed to growing together.
Every month we gather on Zoom where I pour into you personally. I also bring in some of the best mentors in the world to teach and challenge us. Throughout the month I send emails that continue to support your growth journey.
If you’re ready for a perspective shift in your life, I would love for you to join us.
Go to
Join us before our next call.
Because life is too short to live salty when God keeps offering something sweet.
