Luke 15:1 – Am I the kind of person that draws “tax collectors and sinners”? Jesus was.
\nLuke 15:4 – Put it in perspective: The sheep were their livelihood. A loss of one is a loss of 1% of their livelihood. What if I lost 1% of my earning capability? I’d search all over too, and rejoice when I found it.
\nLuke 15:8 – What it it was 10% of your savings?
\nLuke 15:12 – “And he divided his property between them.” I had never thought of this before. Did he father actually divide all he had in half, giving half to each son so that he had nothing? If so, he must have known at this demand that he stood to loose at least half of what he had. Even if the older son remained, the father was at his mercy for survival.
\nSince God is the father in this story, what does this tell us of Him? He has already given us the Earth and all that is in it. We have our share here. He gave it to us ahead of time, before what we would do with it was determined. Like this Father, He knew that some of us would squander it and not return it to Him while others would act with gratitude and use it for His glory.
\nSo, are we, like the prodigal, consuming it on ourselves and our pleasures, or like the older son, do we remain and use it to give back to the father?
\nLuke 15:22-24 – This is one of the most loved stories in the Bible because it is our story. We all, in some way, have run off from God and that He would welcome us back as this father welcomed the prodigal, is as fathomable as it is glorious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"