Welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread.

I'm Wyn Collier, and I wrote today's piece entitled Time to Party.

Our former church in Virginia held baptisms in the Rivana River, where often the sunshine

is warm but the water is frigid.

After our Sunday service, we'd load into our cars and caravan to a city park where neighbors

toss frisbys and kids mobbed the playground. We were quite a spectacle, traipsing to the river's

edge. Standing in the icy water, I would offer scripture

and immerse those being baptized into this tangible expression of God's love.

As they emerged, soaked to the bone, cheers and clapping erupted.

Climbing up the bank, friends and families enveloped the newly baptized and hugs everyone getting drenched we had cake

drinks and snacks the neighbors watching didn't always understand what was happening but they knew it was a

celebration in luke fifteen jesus' story of the prodigal son

reveals that it's cause for celebration

whenever someone returns home to God.

Anytime someone says yes to God's invitation,

it's time to party.

When the son who'd abandoned his father returned,

the father immediately insisted on showering him with a designer robe, a shiny ring, and new shoes.

Bring the fatted calf, he said. Let's have a feast and celebrate.

A massive, exuberant party, including whoever would join the reverie, was a fitting way to celebrate.

Today's our daily bread devotional scripture reading is from Luke chapter 15, 11 to 13 and 17 to 24 Jesus continued

there was a man who had two sons the younger one said to his father father give me my share

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