devotional post #2006

Luke 15:11-16

Luk 15:11 Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons.
Luk 15:12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them.
Luk 15:13 After a few days, the younger son collected all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.
Luk 15:14 Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need.
Luk 15:15 So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
Luk 15:16 He was yearning to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

wasted wealth

Comparing the parables of the lost sheep and coin with this parable, one can see a number of similarities. The one that sticks out the most to me is that all three lost things were of great value to the one who lost them. But the point is not that the prodigal lost all his wealth by wild living. The point is that the father lost his son, and wanted him back. The valuable treasure that the father wanted back was not the property that the son squandered. It was the son himself. We waste our intrinsic wealth when we spend life on ourselves, rather than investing life in the father’s service.

LORD, thank you for loving us no matter how lost we are, how distant from you. Draw us back.