Description
The Prodigal Son
“A certain man had two sons:
And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods which falleth to me. And he divided them to them his living.”
He gave the son his inheritance.
“And not many days after [receiving that inheritance] the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there [in a far country, away from his father and the influence of him], wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land; and he began to be in want.”
A famine of comfort will always follow foolish wickedness.
So this young man, desperate for any one that would help him:
“Went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into the fields to feed swine.”
A young Jewish lad feeding swine? That goes against everything this boy has grown up with, but he’s that desperate for someone. He is turning to every hand to get some measure of support and sustenance in his wickedness. He is still plunging down. He got so hungry, so desperate, that he would even eat the filth and the slop that the hogs left. And no one would give him anything.
Every course of rebellion against the Master always leads to this. It always has, and it always will. And if we don’t pay the piper here, we slaughter the hogs there.
Fortunately, something happened:
“And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger!”
Meaning, this lad in his state of rebellion, was not himself. He was under the influence of evil. And evil had won him over.
And when this young man was finally able to get back down to who he really was, and the values that his father had instilled in him, he woke up! And said, what am I doing?
“How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”
The arrogance is gone. The pride has been displaced. There is now lowliness of heart. True humility, such that he knows that he is not meritting anything from his father. He deserves nothing. He rebelled against it all. He just wants to return to the love of the father and take whatever place he may be given. He is demanding nothing.
The young man started for home. He never made it all the way of his own. His father saw him from a great distance away and ran out to throw his arms around him, weeping. And with the love that only a father and a mother who have yearned for a lost child can feel, they welcome him back.
And the boy starts into his speech:
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”
That’s as far into the speech as he got. And then the father said unto the servants:
“Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his [finger] and shoes on his feet:
And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry:
For this my son, was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
This parable speaks of the love of God for us. It tells you how He feels about you. And what He is willing to do for you. It speaks about His long-suffering with you, His patience with you, and His willingness to forgive you. All of this, when our repentance is real, deep, and sincere.
Source:
Luke 15:11-32
