Digging Deeper – December 5, 2023
12 T
12 When the younger told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die!’ his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there wasted all his money on parties and prostitutes. 14 About the time his money was gone a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. 16 The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the swine looked good to him. And no one gave him anything.
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”’
Luke 15:12-19 (NLT)
THE PRODIGAL SON
In a world filled with temptation and sin, the prodigal son is a character Christians can relate to. The devil can grab a foothold in our lives quite easily. It may be in a significant and visible way, as in this parable, or it may be in ways that we can hide more easily like pride or greed. Either way, we have all left home at some point in our journeys. Your temptations may cost you everything – your “stuff”- like it did for the prodigal son – or it may cost you your joy and satisfaction.
Sometimes temptation can come when we get bored – even in the good things. The prodigal son had a good life before he left his father’s house. He had permanence and provision and a father who clearly loved him. But temptation can lead us to wonder what else is out there. We become willing to step away from the goodness the Father has given us to test the waters of what the world tells us is waiting to bring us a “better life.” But all the world offers us is emptiness and shallow relationships. The easiness the world offers is deceitful.
How can you combat this temptation? Do you have a heart of gratitude? Are you thankful for what the Lord has given you? Are you giving Him daily thanks? The things of this world will fade. 1 John 2:17 says, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” When you find yourself wondering about what the world has to offer, you aren’t celebrating the goodness of the Lord. You begin to find your satisfaction in the things of this world instead. When you can find gratitude in the Lord, you can begin to let go of the temptations more easily.
God provides us deep and meaningful relationship. One of my Fellowship of Christian Athletes coaches in high school used to always ask, “How’s your heart?” He wasn’t looking for the typical teenage response of “good.” I’ve never forgotten that question and the depth of thought it provoked. This is the type of relationship we find in the Lord. One that fully satisfies. It will not betray us.
The parable of the prodigal son begs the question, “When life falls apart, what is left?” The prodigal son found that it was the freely given grace and love of his father. We were made by God for relationship with Him. The stuff of this world will never satisfy. In Acts 17, Paul states that in God we find our life and our breath and everything else. Paul reminds us that the Lord is not far from any of us. In fact, he is always with us and always seeking us. Let us find satisfaction in Him and gratitude in what He has given us.
Courtney Miller is the Special Needs ministry Director at NorthStar Church. She was born a Texas girl, but has lived in Georgia the majority of her life (Go Dawgs!). She married her husband, Chris, in 2012. They have two children with a third on the way.