Prodigal: January 9, 2013

TODAYS WORD FOR WEDNESDAY JANUARY 9, 2013.

PRODIGAL

DEFINITION:

One who spends money with wasteful extravagance; a spend thrift.

SCRIPTURE:

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luke 15:20.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Chapter 15 of Luke contains information for us today to the extent that many say it is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. The message in this chapter is that we are lost and separated from God. But God in His great love for us is seeking for us to return to Him. It includes three of the most well-known parables told by Jesus while on this earth. Jesus was teaching His disciples and a crowd came around Him as He spoke. The crowd included some who believed in Him but the scripture says the crowd included Pharisees and scribes, tax collectors and sinners.

The scripture says they all drew near to Him which indicates they were hungry for the message that He had for them and that they were acknowledging their great need. This chapter relates for us the three parables that Jesus used in His speech to these people: the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son.

The parable of the Lost Son, better known to us as the Prodigal Son, has many messages for us. There are five stages in the life of the prodigal son that we can learn from.

As the story begins, we first see a wayward son. The scripture indicates that he was selfish, hard-hearted, independent, stubborn and worldly. He was the son of his father by birth but did not belong to his father in heart, mind and spirit as God wants us to belong to Him. The son demanded from his father his inheritance by saying, “give me the portion of goods that belongs to me.” Even though he had not earned his portion or even deserved it, he demanded it. He showed arrogant disregard for his father’s authority as head of the family. He was not entitled to any inheritance while his father was alive. He was only thinking about himself and what he desired to do. He did not take into consideration how it would hurt his father’s estate because that mattered very little to the son. The father gave his son his inheritance and the freedom to do what he wanted to do with his life and goods.

Secondly, we read that the son wasted his life in riotous living. He rebelled, revolted and journeyed into a far away country (verse 13). Finally, he came to the day when all began to go wrong. He had been living a worldly life, living for the pleasure of this world only. When his money was gone he was left with the fruits of his life of sin: poverty, bondage, enslavement, suffering, no friends, dissatisfaction, emptiness, destitution and hunger. He was alone, broken, humiliated, and facing starvation. You see when you get into the position that he was in without his father, he had no one to turn to who would help him. He had rejected his father.

In the third stage the young prodigal sees himself as he really is. He came to himself and snapped out of his insanity and remembered how good life was in the home of his father. He thought of his father and his enormous provision that he had given him. He evaluated what his life was like now. No man would help him. His life had been reduced to feeding swine. He knew that he needed to humble himself and repent and confess his sin and unworthiness to his father.

In the fourth stage, he responded to the conviction in his heart and took action. He got up and returned to his father. When the father came running to meet the son he repented and confessed his sin and unworthiness.

At the final stage, we see a restored son, forgiven by a loving father. When the father saw his prodigal son returning, he ran out to met him and greet him with a loving embrace. The father had already forgiven him, even before the son had a chance to give his confession of sin. The father not only accepted the son’s repentance and forgave him, but he restored him to his place in the family. 

What a lesson there is for us in this parable. We are the prodigal son. We have turned and left God to live a life of sin. When we leave God, our father, we are like the prodigal son with no one to help us. Our Father is waiting for us to repent and return to the loving embrace of His arms and the forgiveness of our sins. He wants to restore us to our position in His family as one of His children. God wants us to always trust Him but if we fall away, He is loving and forgiving enough to accept us if we will return to Him. In verse 31 the father said to the son, “You are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” That is what our heavenly Father says to each of us. That is the God we serve. He is an awesome God.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in GENESIS 1:1.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

PRAYER:

Thank You that You are my God and with me every day. Help me to keep on track to do the things and to live the life that honors and blesses Your name. Help me be the leader in my family so that they can see through my words and deeds what it means to know You and serve You.