Devotion:
For an audio version of this devotion, click here.
Read Luke 14:11-24.
This story is typically called the Prodigal Son. A prodigal is one who spends money wastefully. When we call it the prodigal son it takes attention away from the father and the brother who are important to the story. I always looked at the story from the standpoint of the runaway son. Once I had children, I started looking at the story from the standpoint of the father. Our life experiences often causes us to focus on different parts of a story because we identify with them.
The prodigal son leaves home and plunders his inheritance. When a famine comes, the runaway son finds himself destitute, feeding pigs and longing for their food. He decides to return home. He is ready to ask for forgiveness and to live as a servant in his father’s house. When the son returns home the father sees him, is filled with compassion, and runs to him. The father never stopped looking down the road, longing for his son’s return. He gives his son a robe, ring, sandals and a feast. He treats him like a son and not a servant. The father in this story symbolizes the unrestrained grace of God and God’s eagerness to forgive and embrace those who have run from Him. I think the story is more about the father’s compassion than the son's failure.
Personal Worship Option:
Heavenly Father, thank You for being a God who watches the road and waits for us to come home. When we wander far from your ways, you never give up on us. Teach us to love like the father in this story and celebrate everyone who finds their way back to you. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
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