Day 15

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.” — Luke 15:11-12

Fathers know their sons! One of the greatest parables Jesus told is that of ‘The Prodigal Son’. It portrays a picture of a father willing to let his son go. When the younger of his two sons asked for his share of the estate, the father gave it to him, knowing the boy was immature, irresponsible and would almost certainly squander it away. It was no shock that his son ended up in a pig pen; exhausted, alone and broke after his wild living.

A friend of mine once asked what the best part of this story is. Someone said it was the father looking and waiting for his son to come home. Someone else said it was the humility of the father, running to meet him (it was undignified in that culture for a man to run). My friend said he thought the best part was the father giving him the money, and letting him go. That took courage! It is often in the pig pens of life where people ‘come to themselves’.

The New Testament principle that death precedes life often proves true experientially as well as spiritually. As Paul wrote, ‘where sin increased, grace abounded all the more’. Romans 5:20. Sin will always leave its damaging mark, but it is also where we start to look for God’s grace. The real problem at the end of this story is not the younger son who lived the wild life, but the elder son who dutifully stayed at home, but with what transpires to be a self righteousness that hated the welcome home of his brother.

Let your kids go when they insist! Maybe they will land in a pig pen, but everything the father had sown into his son’s life came to fruition in that pig pen because it was there he said, ‘I will say to my father, I have sinned against heaven and against you’. Luke 15.18. Did you notice something important there? The son equated his father and God (‘heaven’) together. His father had represented to him the righteousness of God, and like all fathers, he would not have been perfect, but his consistent goodness had become the light to which the boy looked and eventually beckoned him home. When our sons and daughters come home, welcome them, listen to them (they will have rehearsed something to say!) and celebrate!

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, help me to trust you with loved ones who have gone to the far country. Bring them first to yourself, and then bring them home again.

To reflect upon: How do I love and trust God for people who are pursuing a self-indulgent road away from God?