So, I read Luke 15 today. We've all heard the parable of the Prodigal Son. I mean WE HAVE ALL HEARD IT...even someone who has never stepped foot into a church could probably tell the story. Its very popular.
Jesus told the story because at the beginning of the chapter bar owners, and tax collectors and all kinds of sinners drew near to Him to hear Him speak. When they did, the "righteous" pharisees grumbled and mumbled among themselves. "He hangs out with sinners. He even eats with them!" So Jesus, in His patient way, used a couple of metaphors to help them understand. He likened the situation to a shepherd who'd lost his sheep, or a lady who'd lost her jewelry. Even if you have all the rest, the missing one is so important that you will take time out to look for it. Jesus came to do just this. He came to seek and save the lost. He came to take time out to search for the misfits and to love them and to save them. What an amazing God!
Then Jesus further explains by telling the story of the prodigal son. We've heard it. A rich man has two sons. The younger one asks for his inheritance and goes off in to the big bad world to spend it all on the cares of life. He goes broke, and goes back to his Father, who accepts him with open arms. One line caught my attention, though. In verse 17 of the KJV, it says:
17 But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!
But when he came to himself...
He came to himself...my brain automatically asks for an explanation..."So who the heck was he before?"
This is the lesson I learned from the Holy Spirit, my teacher: When we are in sin, living apart from God, we are not being who God created us to be. When we're not being who God has created us to be, we're not being ourselves. Living in sin is so dissatisfying because we're not ourselves. But when we realize that true life and happiness are found in walking with God, Jesus (the Light) enters in. We then start to become who we are in God. We start to remember that there is more pleasure found in being a servant in God's house, than being the life of the party anywhere else. Then we, like the prodigal son, go back to our Father, and we find Him running toward us with open arms. He grabs us and He holds us and He kisses us. And we're home again...
For the prodigal son, it took hitting the rockiest of bottoms before he came to himself...I feel like this generation has hit a bottom. There's so much evil in this world. But the wonderful part is this: Jesus came to seek and save THE LOST. And so I believe in my heart that there is hope for this generation. I'm praying for a mass revival. So that there will be a world wide coming-to-self that results in people running after God with abandon.
Jesus told the story because at the beginning of the chapter bar owners, and tax collectors and all kinds of sinners drew near to Him to hear Him speak. When they did, the "righteous" pharisees grumbled and mumbled among themselves. "He hangs out with sinners. He even eats with them!" So Jesus, in His patient way, used a couple of metaphors to help them understand. He likened the situation to a shepherd who'd lost his sheep, or a lady who'd lost her jewelry. Even if you have all the rest, the missing one is so important that you will take time out to look for it. Jesus came to do just this. He came to seek and save the lost. He came to take time out to search for the misfits and to love them and to save them. What an amazing God!
Then Jesus further explains by telling the story of the prodigal son. We've heard it. A rich man has two sons. The younger one asks for his inheritance and goes off in to the big bad world to spend it all on the cares of life. He goes broke, and goes back to his Father, who accepts him with open arms. One line caught my attention, though. In verse 17 of the KJV, it says:
17 But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!
But when he came to himself...
He came to himself...my brain automatically asks for an explanation..."So who the heck was he before?"
This is the lesson I learned from the Holy Spirit, my teacher: When we are in sin, living apart from God, we are not being who God created us to be. When we're not being who God has created us to be, we're not being ourselves. Living in sin is so dissatisfying because we're not ourselves. But when we realize that true life and happiness are found in walking with God, Jesus (the Light) enters in. We then start to become who we are in God. We start to remember that there is more pleasure found in being a servant in God's house, than being the life of the party anywhere else. Then we, like the prodigal son, go back to our Father, and we find Him running toward us with open arms. He grabs us and He holds us and He kisses us. And we're home again...
For the prodigal son, it took hitting the rockiest of bottoms before he came to himself...I feel like this generation has hit a bottom. There's so much evil in this world. But the wonderful part is this: Jesus came to seek and save THE LOST. And so I believe in my heart that there is hope for this generation. I'm praying for a mass revival. So that there will be a world wide coming-to-self that results in people running after God with abandon.
This has really ministered to me!
ReplyDeleteI needed to read this today.
God bless you
May your fountain ever flow
Amen! And I pray the same for you...!!! wooooo hoooo for fountains!
ReplyDelete