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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 14 - Lost (Prodigal) Son
Luke 15:17-19
17 And [de] when he came [erchomai] to [eis] himself [heautou] , he said [epo] , How many [posos] hired servants [misthios] of my [mou] father's [pater] have bread [artos] enough and to spare [perisseuo] , and [de] I [ego] perish [apollumi] with hunger [limos] !
18 I will arise [anistemi] and go [poreuomai] to [pros] my [mou] father [pater] , and [kai] will say [ereo] unto him [autos] , Father [pater] , I have sinned [hamartano] against [eis] heaven [ouranos] , and [kai] before [enopion] thee [sou] ,
19 And [kai] am [eimi] no more [ouketi] worthy [axios] to be called [kaleo] thy [sou] son [huios] : make [poieo] me [me] as [hos] one [heis] of thy [sou] hired servants [misthios] . KJV-Interlinear
17 'But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. '' NASB
There are two sons in this parable. The older is of a self righteous nature. He works hard and sees himself as responsible, and loyal, and therefore deserving of whatever it is he has. He wouldn't compare himself with someone else who doesn't pull their weight in life, for they are the disgusting people of the world. Such is the attitude of the Pharisees. They are of higher IQ, higher position, higher pedigree if you will, and therefore they deserve the places that they are in. Or so that is their attitude in life.
The younger son, is the rebellious and wild side of life, the sinner, thus he is called the prodigal son, for that is what that term means - wild and rebellious.
He has lived the good life. He was raised in a home which was well off and had the best of everything in life. It was all given to him. And that is our life of humanity here on earth. God who is the Father in this parable, is the provider of everything that we have. The world is everything we are given. None of us either earned or deserved anything we have in life. The planet is simply here and so are we. But we do have a choice in life. We can go out and embrace the world and all it has to offer, or we can remain home in Bible doctrine and become obedient to the counsel of the Father.
Likewise as the older son does, we can stay home (in the world) and assume that we deserve a place in the Fathers house simply because of our hard work. Both attitudes will prove to be wrong. Both attitudes reject the Fathers rules of the house, and both of the sons in this parable will be confronted by the Father for their choice of life style and judgmental attitude.
Phil. 2:13
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. NASB
1 Cor. 15:10
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, NASB
We do not make ourselves what we are, that is with respect to whatever good there is in us. And that good is defined as Gods good, not the definition of mankind's good. In short, the foundation of man is evil. Only when the grace of Gods wisdom is installed into mans soul, then will there be a basis for some good to be found in man. So, you are a jerk unless you have something inside of you which will cancel it out. And that cancellation agent is Gods word.
Eccl. 9:3
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. NASB
Did the younger son suddenly find goodness inside of himself? No. He never cast a second thought on his past, on his home, on the source of all that he has squandered. Only when he hit the bottom from his selfish gratification's, did he come to his senses and only then did he think of his former life at home. Life really is better there.
Life in sin, life which is lived outside of the influence of Bible doctrine, is empty, desolate, withered, perishing. Unfortunately, only when people finally hit bottom do they return their thoughts to home, with all its peace, plenty, freedom, dignity, then it comes into view, fills all ones vision as a warm and living reality, and this emotionally breaks the heart.
Often times the miseries of life must come full circle before the barriers of the arrogant and rebellious soul are broken down.
It is far better to be in the lowliest place in ones home, than to be in a low place in a strange land. And that is the picture of ones life when Bible study is ignored, rejected, made indifference toward. The counsel of the home (God the Father and Bible doctrine) is rejected and the pursuit of ones own definition of happiness is substituted. Inevitably it all ends up in disaster. That is the only possible outcome for rejecting Gods Word.
But, in order to see the errors of ones ways, a complete change of attitude must occur. Just going back home for a while will not solve ones faulty focus on life. One has to go back home to Bible doctrine and remain there, and live under the rules of the house, before the really good life becomes yours to possess.
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