And 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 falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet 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 unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, 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. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. (Luke 15:11-25)
Today's Morsel: How many sermons would you say that you have heard of the prodigal son? What comes to your mind each time you hear it? Do you take an inventory of your life to see if it's speaking to you? Or when you hear it, do you know of someone that fits the script? Often when we read scriptures, we can find ourselves or someone else's situation in them. I believe that God has done this so that we can see the importance of maintaining our relationship with Him. Each time I read or hear the story of the prodigal son I think about the long road home. Can you image trying to come home knowing that you may not be accepted? Can you image trying to come home and thinking along the way what others are going to say about you? Can you imagine trying to come home knowing that you have lost everything that you had, and now you don't even have any shoes on your feet? Probably the hardest thing for a child of God who has backslidden and is trying to make their way home, is being able to ask for forgiveness. The prodigal son in today's scripture first came to himself. He knew that before he could go home he needed to be right with himself. If you are never right with yourself, you'll never repent of your wrong ways. Once he was right with himself, he knew that he had sinned against God and his father and it was here that he needed his earthly father to forgive him of these things. The road home may seem long at first, but if you will allow Jesus to walk back with you, you'll see that it's really not as long as we may think.
Sing: I've home prepared where the saints abide, just over in the glory land, and I long to be by my Savior's side, just over in the glory land.
Just over, in the glory land, I'll join the happy angel band, just over in the glory land. Just over, in the glory land, there with the mighty host I'll stand, just over in the glory land.
No comments:
Post a Comment