Luke 15:11-24
Before we begin, lets get into the point of view of the son. This son has lived his whole life with a wealthy man as his father. We know he is wealthy because of the servants that he has, and the land he owns. This son is ready to get out on his own, away from the restrictions that his father has placed him under. He wants to be free, and have his own money.
1. OBSERVATION: In verse 12-14, the son hastily packs his things after the father gave him his inheritance early. The father was not going to make decisions for the son, he allowed the son to make his own choice, to go his own way. The son took his things and his money (his inheritance was more than likely land which he sold) and went off to a distant country, far away from home. In this distant country, he wasted and spent all of his money in wild, riotous, and reckless living. As time went on, the young man had no money left. A famine hit the land he was living in, and he began to want, hurt, and be in need.
APPLICATION: As followers of Christ, when we do not spend time with God, we can become like this young man. Some where in his life, the thought popped into his head to leave home. "Home" for followers of Christ is in God's presence, our trust in him, our dependance on him. God, our father, will never make decisions for us. We can do what we want because he has given us a freedom of decision. He wants us to WANT to serve him and stay "Home" with him, but if we want to leave, he will not stop us, although it will break his heart. Just like the young man, we have all been given gifts from our father. It is up to us how we use those gifts; wether we waste them or use them how our father desires us to use them. As we spend less and less time with God, and begin to sin and sin and sin more, we begin to desire that sin more than God. We will get a desire in our heart, like this young man, to become independent of our father. Sin beckons us to become independent of God. It is a call to the flesh to leave the umbrella of grace, and journey into the world of a short lived pleasure. As the young man lived and wasted his money in reckless living, when we go so far along without spending time with God, we can't help but begin to sin freely; recklessly. We will not stop until we reach rock bottom. Ignorance tells you, as you read those last few statements, "you wouldn't be like that. You could go without spending time with God, and not sin recklessly." When the word of God tells you that it is impossible to live a life pleasing to God when you do not spend time with him. --Read the blog post "Introduction" if you do not believe me.-- The thing is, sooner or later, sin and pleasures of this world will fail to satisfy you and the flesh. The "famine" in our lives (the lack of spiritual hydration. The lack of the water of Gods presence. The lack of spending time with God) and the sense of want, will point out the crisis in our lives, as they did the young man.
The most severe famine that this world will ever see, is the famine of the Word of God. Jeremiah 2:13 says, "My people have committed two sins against me: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, cisterns that cannot hold any water." These tanks that Jeremiah speak about are tanks for rain water used in Bible days, where there are not many wells. These tanks, or cisterns, cannot give forth a constantly flowing fresh supply of water as springs can. On top of that, since they are "Broken cisterns" like the verse says, they cannot even hold any water poured into them. The stonework within them are obviously broke, meaning the dirt from the earth dries up any water that is poured into them.
How true is this? When we forsake God and spending time in his presence, our source of living water, we become like this broken cistern. Without God's presence, the world will dry us out, soaking up our water (time spent with God). Without time spent with God, our "stonework" within us begins to crumble. Sin will destroy us. God help me to spend time with you, the spring of living water, so that I do not become a broken cistern.
2. OBSERVATION: In V. 15-19, The young man had lost all of his money. He had not a cent to his name. He was hungry. The famine making the price of food rise even more than what they were, meaning that it was near impossible for him to eat. He found a man and hired himself out to a gentile to feed pigs. Working with pigs was to Jews the bottom of disgrace. You could not get any lower than this. Jews were disgusted with pigs so much so that they did not even name them in their language. They called them dabhar acheer which means "the other thing". He became so hungry, that he would have eaten the slop that the pigs were eating, but no one working there would feed him. He was at the bottom of the totem pole, not even being counted worthy enough to eat what the pigs were eating. Not even considered worthy enough to eat from what the Jews do not even name because of their disgust of them. He was seen as not even worthy enough to feed, meaning that he was seen as not worthy enough to keep alive by saving him from starvation! Finally, the young man came to himself, he came to his senses. His previous state was one of delusion; his first longing was to get away from home, to get away from his father, but now his only longing was to go back. He thinks to himself that his fathers servants are eating enough food to stay alive and even have left overs, yet he is dying of starvation. He decides that he will go back to his father, and apologize for what he did. Not just apologize but admit that he is no longer worthy to be called his son any longer for what he did. He plans on asking if he can be a servant of his father. This shows that his "reckless living" was not just a waste of money, but sin must have come with it for him to think he is not worthy enough to be called his son any longer.
APPLICATION: Without Gods presence in our lives, we are like this young man; at the bottom of the totem pole. Sin can take a righteous man full of grace, and turn him into a man that has nothing to live for. Sin is poison, and it is the most dangerous thing in this world. Just as the young man had disgraced himself so much as to live with pigs, the most disgraceful thing you could do as a Jew, sin makes us find our way to this same place spiritually. Sin turns us into a disgraceful creature, full of hate, lust, lies, etc. We lose the respect of ourselves and see ourselves as nothing. When this is so far from Gods plan for our lives. Yes, with sin we are a nobody, but he died to make us a somebody in him! But as we will see, it doesn't matter if we are the lowest place that we could possible be, our father is waiting for us to return with open arms.
3. OBSERVATION: In V. 20-24, the prodigal son decides to go home. He decides to make the long journey home. How humbling this journey must have been... But there is an unexpected turn in the story. Something that you don't see coming; the father is outside looking for him, and spots him in the distance. The father spots his son that left home years ago, and he was still waiting for him and watching for him to come down that long narrow road leading to the house. The father does something that was considered disgraceful for him to do as an elderly man, and as rich man owning a lot of land; he runs. He runs after his son. He doesn't care who sees, or what people think. The father picks up his garments, which is the only way to run in the long robes that were worn in this day, and disgraces himself further by showing his leg. The father was willing to disgrace himself to meet his son halfway. The father reached his son and wrapped his arms around him clinging him close to him. Holding him tight. The father gave him a warm welcome as if this son was a "model son", the epitome of a good son. The son, in his fathers grip, tears flowing, begins to give his speech that he prepared for his father, "Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again." But the father interrupted him! He wasn't even listening, for he was too busy calling to his servants, "Quick! Bring clean clothes for my son, and dress him! Put the family ring on his finger and put sandals on his feet! We're going to celebrate! My son is here! He was dead, but now he is alive! He was lost, but now he is found!
The son expected to have to plead with his father to make him just a servant, yet his father wouldn't even listen to his plead! The father was just waiting for his son to come home. Slaves were the only ones that would walk around without shoes; this prodigal son comes to his father with no shoes showing that he wants to just be a servant, yet his father says put shoes on my sons feet! The father even says to put the family ring on his finger, making it clear that the son will not be a servant, he is the fathers son! The robe, shoes, ring are all signs of assurance of sweet restoration fully.
APPLICATION: Our heavenly father above, no matter what we do, no matter how far away we run from him, no matter how disgraceful we make ourselves, no matter what we do, our father is waiting with open arms! Looking, searching, waiting for us to make the journey "Home" to him. As in the story of the prodigal, repentance is a journey, not just an emotion. The young man had to make a journey back home. Repentance is not just something that we do on the inside, with our emotions, it is a way of life. It is a change in how we live. We can find ourselves in the "pig pen" of life, the most lowly place, yet our father is waiting with open arms.
Thank you Jesus for your grace! Thank you Jesus for your love! Your un-failing, indescribable, life changing love.
Maybe you feel like this prodigal son. You let sin control your life, you feel dirty and as low as you can get; take heart! You can be like the prodigal again! Listen to the beckon of grace to return home to your father. Maybe you have never been a follower of Christ before, today is the day for salvation. Find peace, love, joy, strength, endurance, trust, rest, etc. in Jesus Christ today. He came to die for you and I, and longs to have a relationship with you. You can see a fragment of his heart in this parable; though we may do implausible things against him, he beckons us home! To rejoice in our return. Make your journey home today.
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."
Psalm 42:1
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