The Prodigals Journey Home

One of my favorite parables of Jesus is the parable of the Prodigal Son or the Parable of the Lost Son.  Of course, if you hang around with me awhile you'll figure out that all of Jesus' teachings are my favorite.  I so identify with this parable, I can see so many things to pull out of it to apply to our lives.  However, for the purpose of this post I want to focus on one aspect of it, the son never stopped being a son.  At least, that is one focus, we will have to see how many appear as we move along.

First  I want to point out some things that pop out to me - Vs 13 "...the youngest son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living."  He did not go across town, he did not go into the next town, he did not go into the next state, no, he went to a distant country. The trip probably would have taken weeks.  He had the resources to have a leisurely trip, staying where he wanted to, having the best food offered, friends at every stop, probably even did not walk all the way.

Second, he spent all his money, and hired himself out to a pig farmer who sent him out 'to his fields to feed pigs.'  To a Jew, and Jesus was telling this to Jews, to a Jew a pig is the worst animal alive. If you have never been around a pig pen I can tell you it STINKS!  This young man stank to high heaven, the angels probably held their collective noses.  He wanted to eat the pig food, we use to call it slop.

Third, it took him awhile but he finally came to his senses and in verse 20,'...he got up and went to his father'.  Now let's not forget that he was in a distant country, not across town or a nearby town, a far distant country.  He would have had to walk for miles, days, maybe even weeks, in filthy clothes, probably torn and in tatters, no sandals. He could not afford lodging or food.  His was a long hard journey home.

As I have shared before, this journey you and I are own is like a road with many distractions along the way calling for our attention.  If we travel far enough and long enough off God's road, getting back can be an arduous journey.  Many times in our journey back we want to quit, to give up on this hard road back to the main road that leads  home.  It is so hard getting back to where we once were.

At no time in the son's stay in the pig pen did he deny his father, he did not blame his father for the way he was raised, he did not blame God.  He took personal responsibility for his own actions that brought him to the pig pen.  While he was in the pig pen he was a son, HE WAS NOT A PIG. He was always a son, never was he anything else.

There's more that can be pulled out of this but I want to share my own struggles in this journey.  The last 5 or 6 years have been one of struggle and turmoil for me.  I have never blamed God.  I have never stopped being His son.  But I have become slack in my relationship with Him.  My journey back is still going on, but I am determined to make it back to where I once was.  God has forgiven me, and still calls me His son, He still blesses me as His son, He is waiting with open arms to welcome me home.  Am I worthy to be called His son?  NO, but Jesus makes me worthy.

The end of the story?  The father is waiting and watching for his son to come home, and when he sees his son he runs to him, hugs that pig stinking son as if he had never left.  Then he throws the biggest party that home has ever seen.  Have you read about the party God is preparing for our homecoming?

Moral?  Don't leave the main road.  Stay in constant contact with our Father. However, just remember that the Father is waiting with open arms for you if you take that side trip.

Until next time, may you enjoy the travel and the scenery on this journey of life ending in heaven.
Your fellow traveler,
Troy