This morning i was challenged as I was rereading the story of the Prodigal Son. It is quiet possibly one of the most famous stories of the New Testament. Whether you are a believer or a non-believer you have probably at one time or another heard someone be referenced as a Prodigal son or daughter. The implication is that they did their own thing, left what they knew for something they considered better. Luke 15 tells the story of a man who has two sons, the younger of which wants to go his own way. Do it his own way on his own terms answering only to self. The young man ask for his share of the inheritance he would get from his father and heads off to “a distant country.”
Now I must admit I have read and reread this story more then I could possibly recount. But something hit me this morning like it hasn’t before. This young man didn’t mean to destroy his life. He didn’t set out to leave home, squander his wealth, and enter into a state of depression over his circumstances. He didn’t intend to do this, but HE did do this. His plan back fired. He found in the distant country that he was a long long way from home. He wasn’t bad guy with a bad intention. He was a normal guy who wanted to do things his own way. The problem was his way lead him in the wrong direction. His way cost him everything. His way severed relationships with those he loved and those who loved him the most. I wonder, when his bags were packed, his plan thought out, with his first step down the path to a distant country, if he thought it would cost him everything? I wonder if the road he was on looked scary or it looked promising? I wonder if he thought he would go to a “distant country” or if he thought he would go to the land of promise and the land of dreams? Simply put, this guy had a plan, had a path, but his plan and path were headed in the wrong direction. He lost it all! HIS plans were not all HE thought It would be. It cost him more then he had calculated. - The good part is he went home and his dad received him back. This long hard story has a very happy ending. You or someone you know may be in the distant country now, but the road that led away can be traveled back. God will receive you back! I’m so thankful Christ never gives up on us.
question – Where are you? have you ever headed in the wrong direction? Did it cost you? Do you need to go back home? Do you know someone in the distant country now? Is it you?
