11To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. Luke 15:11-13 NLT
The story of the prodigal son is a familiar one to believers and probably nonbelievers who may have had a family member that tried to talk with them about the word. I personally believe that it is a story about the greatest journey ever recorded. I believe that the longest and most difficult journey that we all have in life is the journey to finding yourself and the plan that God has for you. The 1st part in this series, we will look at the prodigal son as he asks the father for his share of the inheritance while the father is still alive. Some may ask what’s the problem with asking for his inheritance early, I’m glad you asked, lets take a look. For the prodigal son, the youngest of the two boys, to ask for his share of the inheritance is actually a very disrespectful and offensive thing to do at that time, and even in current times. The father’s inheritance was to be split between the two brothers when the father died, but the younger (prodigal) son requested his early. This showed several things:
- 1st: He was selfish and had no love for the father, because he wanted to ensure that he got an equal portion as the older brother. It is also sad that he loved what the father had more than he loved the father. He desired possessions over relationship/love, and that led him to want the materials from his father that he could in turn purchase more materials for himself.
- 2nd: He didn’t trust his older brother or father and wanted his share early. In biblical days, the oldest usually inherited everything, or got a double portion because they were the oldest. The younger brother may have been led to believe through a bad relationship with the older brother, or if he thought that the older brother was more favored by the father that he may get everything and leave the younger brother with nothing. Asking for his while the father was alive could have ensured that he would not be cheated out of everything after the father’s death.
- 3rd: The prodigal son had decided in his mind that I will not wait around for you to get old and die. I won’t slave away or work for you on the farm/property and waste my youthful years doing what I don’t enjoy or choose to do. Since I don’t know when you will die, I don’t want to be here anymore, and I want to have fun doing what I want to do; give me my share NOW. You got to be a cold man to decide that since you won’t die fast enough, just give me my money now so that I can have fun, I don’t even want to waste my time waiting around while I could be out having fun doing what I want to do.
We often are like the prodigal son in that we don’t truly love God, or desire to develop and maintain a sincere relationship with him. We only think of the material things that God can provide for us, or that he can/will bail us out of the problems that we often create for ourselves through our sin. We go to God like a magic genie or fairy godmother that is supposed to do whatever we tell him to do (not ask) because we said it, and as long as he does what we say then everything is cool. Our faith and relationship should be based on more than that. We selfishly use God to accomplish our own agenda rather than submitting ourselves to his will, and allowing him to richly bless us with what we need. The second way that we find ourselves like the prodigal son is that we don’t trust, or have faith in God’s plan for us and that he truly loves us enough to take care of us. Because we don’t believe in his plan for our lives, or have faith in his word, we don’t believe in the value/reward of heaven, or that he’ll meet our needs on earth, so we instead choose to live the life that we desire that closely resembles the life of the world and miss the mark of the Christian life. If we trusted God with our life, happiness, and well being then we wouldn’t so strongly desire the things of the world and its indulgences, but because we lack the faith, we check out on the Christian walk and choose to walk after our flesh. The prodigal son essentially said that I don’t believe my life will greatly improve after your death (for us, what can be fun or good about being a Christian, all the commandments say that I can’t do the fun stuff, so why would I want to be a Christian?), or that heaven can’t be all that good, so instead I will have my fun while I’m young and then I’ll get saved when I’m old, or I’ll have my fun on Earth and live my life because nothing happens afterwards, and you only live once (YOLO!). The selfish part of many so called Christians is that they believe that God’s provisions and blessings are limited so that if someone else gets blessed, then it means that they won’t be blessed because he’ll run out, so therefore they have to try to steal others blessings. I say that we need to 1st learn to love God, which will produce a trust in him that will enable us to faithfully follow his commands.
Reflection TIme
Is it Me? Have I prematurely given up on God’s promises/plan for my life? Do I value the gifts more than I value the giver/provider? What is the cause of my trust issues with God, my family, friends, etc? Where have I placed my values/treasures; on earth, or in heaven?
