The Lost Son

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2d6u9x

Mark Twain once said, “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Youth has many advantages, but total wisdom is not one of them.

Perhaps most of us have some childhood experience where we just knew that our way was the right way and that the “old people’s” way was wrong. But as we grow older and become those older people, we begin to realize the wisdom that comes with experience and age.

That’s not to suggest that simply being older means that we are wiser. That’s not always the case.

Teaching our children about morals, values and decisions is a part of our duty as parents. We impart knowledge to them and teach them not only the “what” but also the “why” concerning things in life. If we succeed, then our children will learn these lessons and hopefully apply them in their lives.

Even if they don’t immediately respond to our teaching, at least we have planted that lesson in their minds and know that we have done what we should have done. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” There is always hope that they will follow that teaching.

In the third parable in Luke 15, Jesus concludes His response to the Pharisees who were challenging Him. They were critical of Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners and their self-centered, pious attitudes were setting them up for a good lesson. This is perhaps one of the most well-known parables of Jesus. We find it in Luke 15:11-24.

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”

This younger son was very headstrong. He was self-centered and wanted to go his own way regardless of the teachings and blessings provided by his father. The father allowed him to leave but never quit looking for his return.

The key to this parable is found in verse 17 when the young man “came to himself,” and discovered what a great mistake he had made. With that point of repentance, he turns his life around and sets out to return to his father.

In the same way today, many people have scorned the teaching and blessings of God the Father and have decided to step out in their own direction. God will not stop them, although He does not want them to leave. He will not force them to come back, but He never stops looking for our return to Him.

Unlike the sheep and the coin which were lost due to the actions or inactions of others, the lost son was lost because of his choice. When we choose to leave God we must realize that God respects our choice. It causes Him pain to see us go, but He is always looking for our decision to return.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we challenge ourselves to make a daily commitment to being faithful to God. And if we should find ourselves apart from God, may we quickly have that precious moment wherein we “come to ourselves” and decide to return to God.

Our thought for the day: “Some troubles come from wanting our own way; others come from being allowed to have it.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.