Luke 15:11-32
The sheer willingness to rebel.
The sheer temptation to fall out of line.
The mischievous thought of taking control or the beclouded judgement that we cannot gain access until the father is no more.
Like the entitled elder brother, You may publicly have never wandered away from home in rebellion like the younger brother, but somewhere inside you, you know you have also departed from the Father one way or the other.
You may be in the house physically, but your heart have departed wandering and wondering if there is something shinny waiting for you out there as well.
Look inward, in what area of your life have you departed from the Father’s original intention? You need to retrace your steps and get back home.
What areas of your life are you desperately trying to hide away from the father?
What areas of your life would you rather not have the Father be in control?
Which part of you is inpatient and wants to get everything that belongs to you now and immediately rather than wait for the set time by the Father? Identify that lurking prodigal and submit it to the Father’s will.
Take a look inside and ask yourself: what happened to you? Where are you? What are you doing here? How did you get here? It is time to retrace our steps back to the Father’s original intentions.
We see the prodigal and rebellious tendencies find their way to the surface in the attitude displayed when the Junior one came back home. The father was jubilant and asked for a feast and when the senior brother heard about it, he was offended and rebelled. Against the Father’s will he stayed outside while others were inside. He protested against what the father was doing. He also displayed his entitlement. He could also disagree with the Father’s will. Why was he offended? Is it possible he had also imagined himself going out and enjoying all the allures and pleasures of life like his brother but was never able to carry it out? Maybe he was also tempted to do the same. Maybe he pacified himself with the thought of waiting it out in the house till the father died, after all everything the father owns will eventually become his. He is not willing to share his waiting inheritance with anyone else. When the brother showed up, he was annoyed because he perceived him as a threat – a loss instead of a gain like his father saw it.
He was waiting for the father to die before he could lay claim on everything. Meanwhile everything was already his for the asking, even without leaving the house.
There you go! That is it. The two sons made the same mistake. Rather than asking for your inheritance and traveling away from the father to spend it recklessly or staying inside the house but never asking for what belongs to you, the father would rather have them both stay at home and also lay claim on what belongs to them in the house, knowing that everything He had belonged to them in the now. The father is not going anywhere and His resources are limitless. He can never run out.
The younger son thought: I can never enjoy my blessings in the father’s presence and under the father’s influence.
The first son thought: I do not have access, this father will not give me what I want. I’ll just have to wait till he dies or I figure something out.
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There’s nothing out there for you in the world.
Everything the prodigal son spent and enjoyed all through his life including while in rebellion outside there, he got from the father. Everything!
For the true son, The Father is the source of everything.
Notice that after spending all he got from the father, nobody was willing to give him anything. He became poor because he was far away from his source. In fact he had cut himself off from his source.
Your provision in life as a son is in your relationship with the Father. Never forget that. You will not thrive running away from the father’s will, you will not thrive running away from the father’s presence.
God is your true source of livelihood. Stay joined with Him.
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All things are yours, even now (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). Ask and it shall be given to you. That was what the Senior son missed. May we understand and realise the full benefits of sonship in Christ today and everyday. May we not wander away from our only true source, our heavenly Father.
Shalom.
Olaolu Oyeyemi.