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By koa sinag

Lessons From The Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son made two mistakes:

1) He rejected his father’s authority

The first step that gets you into trouble is the one that takes you away from God.

Like the Prodigal Son, you leave home saying, ‘Give me.’ And if you’re fortunate enough to survive your own best thinking, you come back home saying, ‘Forgive me.’ God loves you. Everything you need, He has already provided!

2) He left his father’s house

The devil will do whatever it takes to get you out from under God’s influence and protection.

He’ll put a restless spirit in you so that nothing makes you happy.

Two areas he will work the hardest to generate discontent in are:

a) Your marriage

That’s why you constantly need to work on it. The reason there are weeds in your garden instead of roses is because you don’t spend enough time working there. Your marriage isn’t just a covenant before God, it’s a shelter for your passions and dysfunctions. Furthermore, that ‘other person’, who looks so attractive to you, has baggage, too. And when they move in, they’ll bring it with them!

b) Your church

Who feeds you spiritually?

Who monitors your growth in God?

Would you let your children stay home from school because they don’t like the teacher or don’t want to learn?

Come on, be sensible! God says His Word is like ‘a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces’ (Jeremiah 23:29). When the hammer of God’s Word falls in church next Sunday morning – you need to be under it. You should say, ‘I was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord”‘ (Psalms 122:1).

~» Luke 15:13

The Prodigal Son told his father, ‘I want it all, now!’ To know whether something is good for you or not, you need to understand where the desire for it came from.

Loving parents don’t give their children things because they cry for them; they reward them for acting responsibly. They know what’s age-appropriate.

God is a loving parent. We all know good, well-intentioned people whose talents elevated them. Yet they crashed and burned because of some immature, undisciplined area in their life. Please listen to your heavenly Father and don’t leave home until He says you’re ready! The Prodigal ‘wasted his substance with riotous living.’ Note the word ‘substance’.

Satan is after more than your material possessions; he’s after your

~character

~self-esteem

~staying power

~your life’s purpose

Like the Prodigal Son, you can reach a place where you lose your very desire for life itself.

It’s possible to bask in the accolades of others and think you’re going places in life, yet be only a few steps from the pig sty.

‘He joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine’ (v. 15).

To gauge where you are spiritually, look at who you’re ‘joined’ to.

The company you keep is like a compass that points you in the direction you’re headed. And that compass doesn’t lie. But there’s hope. When the Prodigal Son returned home, his father was waiting for him with open arms. And your heavenly Father is waiting for you too, so come while you still can.

~» Luke 15:17

The Prodigal Son’s journey to ruin didn’t happen overnight.

It was a slow, steady build-up, like cholesterol in your arteries. He took his father’s blessings for granted and stopped being grateful.

‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things.’ (Psalms 103:1-5).

The Prodigal Son was from one of the best families in town, yet he ended up penniless, friendless, eating with pigs, trying to satisfy a legitimate hunger in an illegitimate way.

Why do we get involved in extramarital affairs, go on drinking and drug binges, or work ourselves to death and sacrifice our families in the process?

Because inside each of us is an emptiness that nothing and no one but God can fill.

Jesus said, ‘When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself.. I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned.”‘ (Luke 15:17-18).

If you let Him, God will stop you in the nick of time. He will remind you of who you are and where you belong. You will start seeing the mud you’re wallowing in, the false friends, the empty achievements, and the people around you who are no happier than you. If that’s where you are right now, come home. Your Father is waiting to wipe your slate clean. He still loves you.