“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. – Luke 15:28-30
The prodigal son. I’ve probably read this story a hundred times. I’ve Heard countless sermons on it. This morning something jumped out at me; the end of verse 30. The older son is complaining because the younger son is getting all the attention. And a huge party. I would complain too. I didn’t do anything wrong and all of a sudden, the punk shows up broke and stinky. Instead of a reprimand, he gets a party. Doesn’t seem to makes sense. He leaves, spends the inheritance, parties his life away and now Dad gives him more. I would have been furious. The climax is in the exchange of words between the older son and the Father. The son shouts “You gave him everything and me nothing.” The Father looks at the son. My guess is that he uses a gentle voice. “Everything I have belongs to you. It is yours. Always has been. It’s been in front of you the whole time. You assumed it was mine. It is ours.”
Are there things in front of me that are mine and I don’t realize it? God is my Father. He names the stars. They are his. Are they mine as well? He owns everything that my eyes see. Are they also mine? He knows the future and my place in his grand scheme. If everything he has is mine, could that be mine as well?
We don’t draw lines of possessions in my house. I don’t own a car. It’s out car. Our house. Our couch. Our yard. My kids have purchased very little, but they have very much.
Could it be that I am one of the richest guys around? God is my father. I am with him. He owns everything.
God, thanks for the reminder that it is all in your hands and that you share with those who call you Father. May I use the things of yours/ours to bring clarity to your name.
[tags]Luke 15, devotions, prodigal son, God, life journaling, devotions[/tags]