Isn’t it such a blessing that you are always with the Father – and everything He has is yours?
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SHAUNA: Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. And today Joni’s got a great message about the parable of the prodigal son.
JONI: Well, actually, I want us to look at the brother in this parable because we always hear so much about the returning son, but there are insights to be gleaned from taking a look at his older brother. Because you read the story of the prodigal son, and you get the idea that hardship never seemed to touch the life of the older brother. After the prodigal headed for “Hollywood”, the older son kept faithfully managing the father's farm and paying the bills. He kept his nose clean, never suffered the consequences of disobedience. Meanwhile, while the older brother is walking the straight and narrow and being responsible with his father’s estate, his little brother uses up all his inheritance and is left hungry, sitting among pigs. That’s when he decides to go home. So, one day, when this younger brother shows up, the father goes crazy with excitement: Steaks on the barbecue. Bring out the best of wines. Put crepe paper up on the tent posts. “Welcome home” banners over the doorway. Meanwhile, the older brother kind of steps back and looks on, more than a little stymied. It wasn’t the cost of confetti and fatted calves that irked him; no, it was this gushing favor that his father showered on his younger sibling.
But just when the older brother thought he was missing out [get this], he hears these tender words of reassurance from his father, and they are recorded in Luke 15:31. “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’” Now, let those words sink in because when you read the parable, you see that the prodigal son only had a portion of the inheritance. The older son, according to Luke 15:31 possessed everything. He simply forgot that important fact.
And this is a critical lesson for followers of Jesus whose testimonies are – well, pretty clean and straight-forward, because Christians who do not wrestle with larger-than-life temptations still have to grasp the depth of their depravity. It’s also a critical lesson for those whose lives have not been touched or scarred by deep suffering. Those who do not regularly taste pain and hardship must live more circumspectly and carefully. Pain and hardship usually make us feel our desperate need of God; so does an awareness of sin in our lives. But without suffering and without hardship, one could become like the prodigal’s older brother who, in his trouble-free circumstances, forgot how much he had. But God says in Ephesians 1:3, that He, our Father in heaven, has blessed every believer “in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” God has nothing more beyond Christ to give those who suffer, and to those who do not.
So today, friend, hear the Father say to you that you possess everything. And appreciate it! Don’t begrudge others who come to Christ by the skin of their teeth, sliding in under the wire at the last minute. Yes, they have an inheritance, but so do you [and it may well be richer and fuller than anything you can imagine].
SHAUNA: Listening friend, Joni and I so enjoy sharing these biblical insights with you, and we’d love to share more. So please go to joniradio.org today where you’ll find this program and a virtual storehouse of Joni’s radio encouragement and inspiration. It’s all there, waiting for you at joniradio.org. And here’s a final thought: If your days are blessed with ease and comfort, please don’t forget the rich and many spiritual blessings God our Father has bestowed upon you.
© Joni and Friends