Parable of the Prodigal Son

Luke 15: 11-32

The Bible does not always provide stories where we can say that this story directly reflects me; I am the prodigal son who runs away and returns. But Jesus uses it to depict our nature, to run and squander what the Lord has given us, only to learn that he was right all along. 

Usually, this passage and commentaries surrounding it focus on the father in the story, and it probably should. It is the gospel, after all. Today, let us focus on the son who runs away and what we can learn about ourselves through the process. 

In verse 13, the son gathers everything that he was given, and then he runs away to live in freedom. Then he squanders everything. He runs from the stability of his home. He runs from the love of his father. He runs to the pleasures of the world and the desires of his flesh - so easily. There is no mention of him wrestling with his desires, just the instance of giving into them.

We know the end of the story. We know what happens to those who run off on their own. It’s a disaster. So why do we run off on our own? 

Where are you right now tempted to run off on your own? How are you tempted to take what God has given you to see what you can make of it yourself? Identify that and give that temptation to God. The story of the return of the son and the forgiveness of the father is beautiful, but after we return to Christ for the first time to receive salvation - the leave and return narrative is not the goal. The narrative we now seek is to remain faithful to the Father, stay near to him, and not squander what He's given us but to thrive within his provision. 

This story is about us in our failure to fight off our temptations and it is about the ever-flowing grace and love of the Father working for his children to come home.