The parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 came alive to me a few years ago. I was at a Chris Tomlin concert where Louie Giglio, a pastor from Atlanta, Georgia, gave a mini sermon and explained that passage of Scripture in a way I had never grasped: The picture of the father running to meet his wayward son.
Since then, that has been a beautiful passage to me and I view it with different eyes. Recently, I was listening to a sermon that used that passage of Scripture and it brought it to light again.
The Lord allowed me to use that same passage with one of my own children recently and he continued to teach me His truths as I read the passage to my own.
Being a teenager is hard in this world.
Being an adult is hard in this world.
No matter what age we are in life, we can be just like that Prodigal Son from Luke 15. For those of you not as familiar, I shall recap the story for you:
There was a man who had two sons. The younger of the two sons decided he wanted his inheritance right then so he could go live his life the way he wanted. The father graciously allowed this - and gave both of his sons their inheritance while he was still living. The younger son goes out and parties - hard. He lives life to the fullest - or so he thinks. Once his money runs out, so does his "friends" and the great lifestyle he thought had given him joy. Then, there is a famine in the land. He becomes so desperate for food that he becomes a servant to a local man, and was willing to eat the husks he was feeding the pigs. He finally comes to his senses, when he is at the end of himself, and decides to go back home to be a servant for his father. He felt he was not worthy to be called his son anymore but he would be treated better by doing so. As the young man is coming home, the Scripture tells us the father, who had been constantly looking for his son, runs to meet him. He wraps his arms around the son and calls for his servants to bring him clothing, kill a calf, and get ready for a celebration. His son was back home. His son was still loved.
The Prodigal Son looked at what the world offered and thought it was worth going after. We are no different because many times we go after the same emptiness. Satan likes to make the world look so inviting - and then he likes to tell us how bad we are by degrading us as we wallow in the pig sty of our own doing.
Notice what the Lord showed in this parable of what has to happen when we finally realize we need to come back HOME.
1. When the Prodigal Son had spent all of his money, there came a famine - he was in want.
When we realize the world doesn't satisfy we begin to find we are in "want." Want for what? We begin searching.... and sometimes that searching is all about what WE think will fix the emptiness and the satisfaction.
2. The Prodigal Son then went to a man in the country where he was living at the time and searched for his own way of getting his emptiness filled. In his desperation to become filled he was willing to eat the food given to the pigs. He found out that didn't satisfy either.
We also begin looking for other ways to fill our emptiness. We fill it with activities, music, movies, hobbies, or just the "fix-it-myself" mentality. Those never satisfy the famine in our souls that the world leaves behind.
3. The Prodigal Son comes to his senses. He thought that even though he felt he was not worthy to be called his father's son any longer, he would at least serve his father. It would be better than live in the life of emptiness he was facing then. Nothing HE tried was working.
The Lord draws us back to Him from our own pig sty. He reminds us through different ways that what WE try to do to fix the problem never works. The only way to be filled again is in His love and care. The Lord may use parents, other family, friends, circumstances, or hitting rock bottom to bring us to that reality.
4. The Prodigal Son comes home - and as he is coming he sees his father running TO him. His father never once stopped looking for him to come back home. His father never once stopped loving him. The father clothes him, puts shoes on his feet, a ring on his finger, and kills a fatted calf in his honor - something that was only reserved for highly special occasions. The prodigal son had nothing left of himself - but he was never hungry again. His father filled him with all he would ever need.
The same can be said of our Heavenly Father. There is no distance too far that He is not searching for us to come back to Him. He runs TO us. We have to finally have nothing left of ourselves so that our Heavenly Father can clothe us in His righteousness and fill us with the "fatted calf" of His truths, love, and grace. When we are safe in our Father's arms we are able to be filled completely.
You are never too far gone.
You are never too low.
You are never rejected.
God's love reaches farther than we can imagine.
This world never satisfies.
This world never satisfies.
When the famine from this world comes - come running like a Prodigal to our Heavenly Father.
There is a fatted calf waiting for you.