THE PRODIGAL

Anything we read in scripture that reveals God's love is a tremendous blessing to those who've put their faith in Him. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a story to a group of Pharisees who are complaining that He eats with sinners.

The parable begins with a man who had two sons. The younger asks for his share of the inheritance and the father agrees ... dividing his estate between them.

Upon receiving his portion, the younger son travels to a distant country and indulges in an extravagant lifestyle. But it isn't long before he has exhausted all of his money, and famine strikes the land. He becomes desperately poor and is forced to take work tending swine. The son reaches the point of envying the food given to the pigs and finally comes to his senses.

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! 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. 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.

The prodigal starts his speech by admitting his sins and declaring himself unworthy of being his father's son. But before he could finish his appeal, he was interrupted and wholeheartedly received back into the fold. 

The father calls his servants to dress him in the finest robe, place a ring on his finger, and provide sandals for his feet. Then a fatted calf was slaughtered for a celebratory meal.

The older son, who was at work in the fields, hears the sound of celebration and is told about the return of his younger brother. He is not impressed, becomes angry, and confronts his father ...

And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

The parable concludes with the father explaining that while the older son has always been present, the celebration was necessary because the younger son had returned.

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this, thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found.

The father in this parable represents God, the prodigal represents the repentant sinner, and the brother represents those who have put their trust in 'self'. (Christ's audience included those who relied on obedience to the law for justification). 

For the one who beats his breast in utter brokenness and shame, hope is always at the door. The salvation found in the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, allows the Father to run toward us with open arms.

In the same way that a devoted parent does not lose hope concerning a wayward child, God loves you even though you may be steeped in sin. He anxiously wants to restore your relationship with Him ... made possible through the atonement provided by Jesus Christ.