Luke 15.17 “When
he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have
food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” – the Prodigal
The following are words I found in the Thesaurus for prodigal: wasteful, reckless, dissolute,
profligate, extravagant, uncontrolled. I think these words aptly describe a
brash young man who demanded his father give him the share of his inheritance
and let him go off on adventure. I think they help us understand more of what a
prodigal might be. The reason I think all this is because I think it’s
important to understand where the young man may have been coming from when he
made his decision to flee the roost and venture out on his own. Why do people
do what people do?
We can label the young man all we want but what was
really going on in this parable? I think the underscore of all this is the
thought: “With the right resources, I can
make it on my own without you.” And I think a lot of people are prodigals. I think prodigal-ism is part of the human condition.
Jesus said, “When
he came to his senses…”, the young man had lost his senses in his thinking.
And many of us have done that, or are in the process of doing that. I think
prodigals are alive today. (I almost said ‘and
well’, but we all know the story, and the prodigal at some point was less than well.)
Which leads me to this: It is amazing where we turn for help when we realize we cannot make it
on our own without _______________ (fill in the blank). The prodigal turned
to his father.
The young man (with hunger, humiliation, and sorrow) saw
in his mind, his father’s kindness and abundance, and how well he treated his
staff. In desperation he thought: at
least the servants at home have it better than me. And so, in hope, he left
where he was, took his empty stomach, and went home.
What he didn’t estimate was his own value; he didn’t understand how much he was loved
and missed by those at home. (Okay, the older brother was a bit perturbed…
jerk!) And here is where we discover that some are at home and want to leave, but
some are at home and are bitter and resentful. Some leave home and realize it
was better there; and some stay but chafe, and chafe, and chafe…
Part of the lesson for me as I consider my own
prodigalism is this: where in all of this
story is contentment? Paul told Timothy: But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6.6) He
went on to say: For the love of money is
a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (V. 10) Money was the
issue with the prodigal and his bitter brother. God wants to heal us from our
love affair with money (which is really just a love-affair with ourselves.)
Father in Heaven, prodigal
or no, we all need You. I know I do. I am sorry for the thinking I’ve done and
I realize with You is the answer to all my need. May I be content with where I
am and what I have and honor You with all You have given to me. Thank You for
this reminder that to be godly is one thing, but to be content in godliness is
truly another. May I be content with what I have today. Amen.
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