Luke 15:11-12 He also said: "A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.' So he distributed the assets to them. Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Today, the read through the Bible plan that I'm following brought me to Luke 15 and the parable commonly referred to as the Prodigal Son. In actuality it is a parable of the two sons. I look forward to reading this passage, reading devotionals of this passage and hearing messages from this passage year after year. It is remarkable how, still, after all these years something else will still strike me every time that I read it. So it is with today's verses.
What struck me today was reading of the younger son wanting "what's coming to me". I like the way it is stated in The Message "I want right now". It is like those commercials on TV where you here person after person saying "it's my money and I want it now." In this instance the son had in mind his inheritance, but in his stubbornness, lack of respect or regard for his father and desire to live as he pleased, his father allowed him to truly get what was coming to him. It was a downward spiral caused by wreckless living.
Perhaps as a child you may have said to your parents, or perhaps your children have said to you - "mom or dad, I have to learn from my own mistakes". The statement was true, but the attitude is that while they knew the decisions they were making were wrong, were against the parents will, they wanted to do them anyway. They were willing to take the hit for experience.
I've always enjoyed listening to financial advisor Dave Ramsey and hearing him respond to a caller who asks him "how are you doing" with "better than I deserve". He feels blessed and has realized that he is glad that he truly doesn't get what he, a sinner, has coming to him. I've always admired that response and would like to say it myself at times but have lacked the boldness and perhaps the honesty to say it. It may have been that the prodigal son may have responded the same way after he experienced his father's forgiveness and love.
It started at the point where he approached the father in repentance by saying 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.'. The father forgave and restored him to a right relationship.
Before we make such a statement "I want what's coming to me", may we be aware of what we really may have coming to us, and realize, like Dave Ramsey, that what we already have is better than what we deserve.
In Christ,
Mike
Follow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Luke 15:11-24
The Message (MSG)
The Story of the Lost Son
11-12 Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.'
12-16 "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.
17-20 "That brought him to his senses. He said, 'All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father.
20-21 "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'
22-24 "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.
No comments:
Post a Comment