"And not many days later, the younger son gathered
everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he
squandered his estate with loose living" (Luke 15:1`3).
Hey Gang: Did
you ever wonder why number one, three, six or number ten child chooses to go
his own way? All were brought up under the same roof, with the same boundaries,
with the same moral code, the same love and security their siblings?
A daughter,
who grew up the same home as her two
brothers and sister - now all successful in their personal lives and have
raised children who have followed in their parents footsteps, left the family
teaching to go her own way.
She was the last of
the litter and made it very clear in her life that she was going to do it her
way, no matter how badly that way turned out to be. She was bound and
determined to try every- thing, no matter how her parents tried to guide her.
When you look at
the road she choose to travel, the questions of ‘why’ becomes paramount,
especially in the hurt that is experienced by the parents who did it right.
Perfect? No! But perfect enough that the other three siblings
choose to follow in their footsteps and today are reaping the benefits of their
modeling the right road.
We all know the
story of the prodigal that Jesus taught: A young man that had the world
by the tail, yet choose to hit the Bourbon Street route and trip the life
fantastic. When I see this scenario in action in the life of a rebel,
I think of Merlin the magician who also believed he was more powerful than God
and choose to prove it. He climbed to the top of a high tower and stood
on the edge and announced to the world that he could fly. He then jumped
off and flew for a few seconds and came to a very abrupt stop.
Prodigals seem to
follow Merlin's lead and believe they can do something so many others have
tried and failed ie., beating the odds. Isaiah described the prodigal
perfectly when he wrote, "all
of us like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way?" (Is.
53:6)
But there is a
significant difference in Jesus’ story of a prodigal and many prodigals I have met.
Jesus tells us that
one day, when the prodigal’s stomach felt like his throat, had been cut and he
was standing knee dip in pig slop and dung, it dawned on him that back home,
the servants were eating a hardy meal and sleeping in warm beds and enjoying
the fruits of their labors.
Now for the
key! "So he came to himself…went home to his father". Now notice
the yearning of a father’s heart for a prodigal; "While he
was far off the father spotted him and felt compassion for him and ran and
embraced him and kissed him" (vs. 20). Jesus was telling the
crowd, this is the way Father God looks for us.
In my work with multitudes of prodigals I can
attest to the truth there are two types of prodigals: First, there
is the prodigal who will not get out of the pig slop, no matter how deep and
smelly it may be. But I have also been blessed to see some, who
recognized there was no way out of the pig slop, except through the open arms
of the Father, and seek forgiveness.
The word tells me the angels rejoice when those
who are lost grab hold of their backside (he had no bootstraps) and truck on
out of the pig sty and come to the Father and says, "Father
"I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, I am no longer worthy to
be called your son" (vs. 21).
Sooooo, Take it
from an old salt who has locked many prodigals into little rooms with bars, simply
because they turned their backs on the love of their heavenly Father and love
of their earthly father. Is there any way to prevent a prodigal in your
family? Yes, pray together, eat together, shut the boob-tube down and
fellowship together as a family- and get involved in your church and love the
sox off of each one of them.
Blessings,
Gramps
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