Prodigal With Love?
What does it mean to be prodigal?
We probably would never come across the word in everyday speech. knowing it only from the parable of the Prodigal Son.
The prodigal one was the one who spent his inheritance foolishly, lavishly, saving nothing and having nothing to show for it.
We may know people like that, or may believe we do. We hear that someone we know has inherited a great sum or has won the lottery and we are envious. Why not me?
So, when that person loses it all, what do we say?
He was foolish, extravagant, unwise? Maybe we feel he deserved to lose it. We were jealous and now we are justified.
We can't help feeling this way, since it is not how we would have behaved, or so we say.
But he answered his father, "Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. - Luke 15:29
In the story Jesus told, the older brother has a problem with the way the father rejoiced at the prodigal's return.
How dare you treat him so, after what he has done? And what about me?
We can criticize the older brother for his jealousy, but deep down, we feel for him. He is like us, following the rules and getting no reward.
But as always with these parables, there i much more to the story than we see.
Yes, it is about the forgiving and loving father, but it is also about the son who needed to know the father loved him. Why didn't he know that?
If we judge the love of God by what we gain, and we fail to see that all we have is from Him, we are the ones who need to be forgiven.
The father should have been very hurt to hear his older son say these words to him.
Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found."'
Every day that we do the right thing, act the right way, step out to be the light in the world rather than a shadow or dark corner, we do so on our own. What should we expect for doing those things?
We should expect nothing. For if we do these things for a reward, we are not being faithful to ourselves and our motivation behind our actions.
It's worth thinking about. We should be prodigal with love.
More to come...
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