My mother had very strict rules for me and my sister. I am the oldest and I am suppose to be the most responsible one, between the two of us. One of my mother's rules was that, me and my sister must leave home together and we must return home together. My mother didn't play and if you were disobedient, she did not spare the rod. I only received one spanking from my mother, and believe me, it was not my fault. My sister got us in trouble.
Have you ever gotten caught-up in something and it seemed to you that there was no way out? Now that you are reflecting, it was probably something you could have avoided. You got into the situation because of the bad choices you made. You chose to be disobedient and you had to pay for that choice. Disobedience will also take you down a dark road, a road of disillusion. Obedience is just the opposite, and you can walk with your head held high because of the choices you make. Obedience is not always the smooth way, but it is the way of truth.
In Luke chapter 15, Jesus gives us three parables. One parable was about the lost sheep (vs 1-7). Then Jesus gives us a parable about the lost coin (vs 8-10). To further illustrate the point, Jesus tells us the parable about the lost son. Oh you know the story about the Prodigal Son. It's about a young man who thought freedom and independence would allow him to be his own man. He went to his father and requested his part of the inheritance, while the father was still living. The father had worked hard at what he had acquired. The son wanted what he had not earned nor deserved. If he had waited until the passing of his father, being the youngest son, he would probably have received one-third of the estate and possibly more.
We can surmise that the young man had some serious issues living at home. He was probably fed up with doing this and doing that. Maybe the father had asked him, "Where have you been? What was you thinking, knowing that you had a curfew in this house?" The pressure was probably constant and unbearable and he thought that other young adults in the neighborhood were enjoying life without the complications and the constant interrogations. What he desired was freedom, but what he didn't realize that freedom comes with a cost. His independence would allow him to make his own decisions. Walking away from the family meant walking away from his support system that loved him and was always there for him.
The father consented to the son's request. The son rushed out of the house with bags in his hands. As a free man he wanted action (the trappings of this world) and a lot of it. When he walked into the party scene, all eyes were on him. He was not a newborn, but he was brand new to that type of lifestyle. Oh, the flesh craves all kinds of perverse and evil things. I am sure he had on all the latest clothes, shoes, rings, scarves, and the works. His new found freedom even made him sound different. The place he chose was against everything morally and culturally he had been brought up to believe. But this decision was taking ownership of his new life. So he began to party, and don't forget, all eyes were on him.
As the night went on and lights began to dim, the tide began to turn, he suddenly realized that he was now broke and all his newly acquired friends had deserted him. He found himself in panic mode. The Bible clearly tells us that he wasted all his money on parties and prostitutes (v. 13). No money, no honey. No money, no friends. To add to his misery, "there was a famine in the land."
He found himself no longer a free man, but now he had become a slave. He had to get a job and one very soon. He was hungry, sweaty, tired and with nothing to his name. The answer to his problem was to hire himself out to whosoever would give him a job. Quickly he discovered the only job opening was tending hogs for a gentile. No Jew in his right mind would have ever associated himself with gentiles and definitely would have nothing to do with hogs. According to Moses' law, pigs were unclean animals. This meant that they could not be eaten or used for sacrifice. And to protect themselves from defilement, Jews would not even touch them.
The young man who had the good life, love, and support of family, found himself at his lowest point, in the hog pen, with real hogs. Ernk, Ernk, Ernk! The hogs had what he did not have and that was a guarantee meal. This was a low ebb for him. He was hungry, but they were being filled. As he was about to indulge with them, I am sure all kinds of thoughts went through his mind. Scripture said, "He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything" (v.16).
When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, "At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger" (v.17). He began to think about how his father's hired hand had food to eat, with much to spare. Let's call this an "aha moment," because it was his moment of reflection. If you are intent on getting out of the hog pen, you must first come to your senses and realize what got you in that situation.
While in the hog pen the son thought to himself, "I will go home to my father and say, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you..'" (v. 18). He made a decision to go back to his father's house and he realized that he had sinned against his father and God. Let's call this "his moment of confession." If you want your condition to change, then start with a heartfelt confession. Tell God what He already knows. "He is faithful and just to forgive your unrighteousness."
"While the young son was still in the thinking process, he decided that he would tell his father, 'I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man'" (v. 19). The young man wanted family ties again. He was willing to work his back off to get back as a son, and he was willing to start at the bottom. Let's call this "his moment of humility."
Your actions will speak louder than your words. "So he returned home to his father" (v. 20a). Let's call this "his moment of repentance." Everything he had rehearsed in his mind, he followed through on it. He returned to the scene where it all began - home. He spoke from his heart. It was then that he was out of the hog pen.
When we leave the fold of God, God waits for our return. The hog pen is for hogs. We fall, but we must get up. We know where we belong. That's in fellowship with our Lord and Savior. When we are out of fellowship, we are in a foreign country, because there, there is where sin resides. Our way is not to follow after the world, living wasteful and sinful lives.
"And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming, and was filled with loving pity and ran and embraced him and kissed him" (v. 20b). As the young man attempted to confess, the father called for a celebration. The father ordered the servants to put the best robe on him, a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet, "For this son of mine was dead and has returned to life. He was lost and is found" (v. 24).
The young son's father is symbolic of God. The father simply forgave the son. God is interested in the attitude of the heart. What Jesus wants us to know, that the very act of repenting, God forgives us. For repentance is turning from sin to God: "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance" (Proverbs 28:13). Apostle Paul tells us, "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
However low the Prodigal Son thought he had sunk, he still remained the son of His Father (God). His status could not change, even when his state of being did. When we detour from the Christian pathway, our status doesn't change, I don't care how big the mess you got caught in. The state that you got caught in made you miserable, uncomfortable, and I am sure embarrassed, but your status is the same. Before you detoured, you were a child of God, and while in the mess, you are still a child of God. Don't ever forget who you are. You are a son or daughter of God. What a privilege! You didn't earn it, because you can't. You were given it when you gave your life to Christ. So you can feast at the Father's table or you can wallow with the pigs in the slops called sin. It's your choice.
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