THE PRODIGAL TIMES

From the moment you were born, you have been on a quest. At the beginning, you probably didn't have a clear idea about what you were after, but you know you wanted your life to have some kind of purpose. You wanted to know the meaning of life... And you wanted to be happy.

A philosopher named Hugh Morehead once wrote to 250 of the best known philosophers, scientist, writers, and intellect in the world, asking them, "what is the meaning of life?" Some offered their best guesses; someone admitted they just made up a purpose for life. Others were honest enough to say they had no clue. Several even ask Morehead to write back and tell them if he had discovered the purpose of life!

Clearly, we all need to know where we are going in life and why. If we have no goals, no purpose, and no guiding principles, we will waste our lives (and many have!). If you're young and looking ahead of life, you should be asking these questions, because life goes by more quickly than you can imagine.

We search for meaning and happiness in relationships, sex, possessions, accomplishments, fame, drugs, drink, and even religion. We are all searching for meaning and purpose in life.

The Parable of the Loving Father

I'd like to relate a famous story that Jesus told some 2000 years ago on this very topic. His stories tells us what God is like. That's important, because some people envision God as an angry, hostile, uptight Supreme Being who is perpetually in a bad mood, just waiting to nail you to the wall when you fail or sin. But nothing could be further from the truth. Others look at God with a jaded eye because they have seen hypocrites who claim to be Christians. May I apologize for all those people right now? That is not who God is.

So what is God like? Is he a smiling God or a frowning one? How does he look at us? Does he approve or disapprove of us?

Because the Bible often refers the Almighty as "Father," we normally associate God with our earthly fathers — and that can be good or bad, depending on what kind of fathers we had. If your father was distant and aloof, or even harsh and abusive, you may feel that God is, too. If your father was kind and approachable and fun and loving, you may transfer those positive associations to God. But regardless of how good or poor a job our earthly fathers have done to us, we must look at God in an entirely different way. We must look at God through page of Scripture, where he reveals himself most clearly.

In fact, we need to go to an expert subject. And who is better an expert on this topic than Jesus himself?

As the story begins, Jesus gave us a clear snapshot of God that shows us he is personally and deeply interested in every aspect of our lives. We can think of his story as a "divine selfie." It's called the parable of the Lost Son, but it might better be called the parable of a loving Father. In this story, Jesus portrays God as a loving, heavenly father, who deeply cares for us and greatly misses us when we go astray.

As the story begins, we see a young man deciding to leave home. This boy came from an affluent family with many servants. Despite the love in this home, the young boy wanted nothing to do with it. He grew tired of the rules and regulations and decided his dad had been keeping him back from enjoying the life he wanted. When the boys saw the bright lights of the big city calling his name, he wanted to experience everything this world had to offer. No doubt he thought, what could Dad know about this sort of thing?

Perhaps you come from a broken home or you have suffered through a divorce. You feel betrayed and hurt. You are out on your own, trying to find meaning and purpose in life. You feel lonely and isolated. You are looking for someone or something to fill that void in your life. You probably discovered that this world doesn't have the answers to life's deepest questions. Why not? Because the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart.

In fact, the problem is inside us. That's why it's almost laughable when people say, "the answer is within" the Bible plainly teaches that the problem is within! A lot of people think that if they could just escape their problems, they'd be fine. Then-SURPRISE-they find their problems following them!

This boy fought his father, was keeping him back from the good life. Overtime, a strong curiosity about the outside world grew within him, a restlessness to go out and sample the forbidden. He wanted to break the taboos and see for himself. So he told his father in so many words, "Dad, I figure you're going to drop dead one day, but I don't want to wait around before I get my inheritance. So give me my money now!"

This kid was a spoiled, selfish brat, who couldn't have cared less about, hurting his father's feelings. The father could've stopped his foolish son, but he did not. The boy had something we all have, namely, free will.

Jesus's story pictures all of us trying to run from God. God says, "I love you, so you're free to go." God will not force salvation on us; it's our choice. So the father in Jesus's story did not stop the prodigal, anymore that God stopped, Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of eating. He loves you and me and will allow us to make our own decisions— and face the consequences, whether good or bad. Clearly, he wants us to make the right choice.

But it's still a choice!

In Jesus's story, the prodigal made the wrong choice. No doubt, when we hit the TOWN He instantly became one popular guy. But when the prodigal's money ran out, his "friends" ran out with it. Before Long, this foolish young man hit rock bottom.

Maybe you, too, have hit bottom recently. Perhaps you have Reid the results of what you have sewed. At first, the prodigal was living High on the hog, but soon he found himself living with the hogs... And as he fed them, their food began to look good to him. Even so, he still didn't come to his senses and go home! Instead, he prolonged his miserable situation and sank even deeper.

That's sin for you. It promises freedom, but bring slavery. It offers success, but delivers failure. It pledges life, but the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). It guarantees pleasure, but ultimately yields only misery. Oh, it can bring some pleasure for a season,... But the seasons, change. Sin often begins in the bright days of summer, but always ends in the biting cold of winter.

Maybe you are doing everything this world tells you to do in order to be happy. Have you discovered yet that this world does not have what you are looking for? In time, you certainly will; I just hope you don't wait until the end of your life. Or worse yet, when your life is cut short. None of us has any guarantee of growing old.

Fortunately, in Jesus's story, one day, the boy realized his mistake. Jesus said that "he finally came to his senses" (Luke 15:17). he woke up and smelled the coffee. Or originally he thought he had it tough in his father's house, he came to realize that life outside his father's house was simply insane. Even more, he realize that his own actions had brought on his troubles.

We live in an age when a few individuals want to take responsibility for their own actions. This is always someone or something to blame. If it's trouble at home, we say, "the problem is my parents." If it's trouble at school, we say, "The problem is my teachers." Trouble at work? Then it's the fault of the of a boss or colleagues. We always find someone or something to blame. "I wouldn't have done this if you hadn't done that." "I act like that because it's the way of my father (or mother) acted." "Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but you're just as bad!"

But there has come to a point where we own up to what we have done. The Bible says, "the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jeremiah 17:9).

It's an amazing thing when we ditch the excuses and stop the blame shifting and admit the problem is us. Sometimes this happens gradually, dawn on us over a period of time. But often it's instantaneous. Like a flash, it comes to you: "it's not these Christians who are crazy. It's me!"

It happened that way with the Lost Son suddenly like a flash it dawned on him that it was not his father who was wrong but him. He recognized the love and patience of his father and how he had offended him. Once that happened, immediately he saw his old, confirming home in a very new light. The lonely boy longed for his family.

You may say, "but I have no family to return to!" Perhaps your parents are divorced, or your dad is abusive, or your mom left you. Maybe you have already lost your parents to death. But I want to assure you: you do have a family. It's called the family of God, the church. And you do have a Father, a Father in heaven who even now is waiting for you.

This boy eventually realized that everything he was looking for he already had his father's house. In the same way, everything you need in life is found in a relationship with God!

How did the father in the story feel when his son left? He was sad. He missed his son. Now remember, the story is a snapshot of God. How does God feel about people like us wasting our lives? He also feels sad. He also misses us.

The boy in the story said "I will go home with my father. "He could have repeated this resolution daily and yet never have done anything about it, but he acted on his plan. In a similar way, a lot of people who have fallen into sin say, "One of these days, I am going to get right with God." But nothing ever changes, and they sink deeper into sin as their hearts grow harder and harder. To get right with God, we need to utter three difficult words: "I have sinned" (Luke 15:21). God cannot forgive the sin we will not confess!

The Father's Loving Response

And how does the father of Jesus's story react to his returning prodigal? Listen again to Jesus: When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, "At home even the hired servants have enough food to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father, and say, 'father, I have sinned against both of heaven, and you, I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.'"

Notice that the father accepted his son just as he was. Even without a bath! In the same way, God receives us as we are. Jesus said, "Those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them" (John 6:37) and, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry happy burdens I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Perhaps you say, "I need to clean up my life before I come to God. "God effectively says, "No, you need to come to me, and I will clean up your life."

Notice that Jesus says the father ran into the sun. Understand that in this ancient culture, it was considered on dignified for an older man to run. (it was hard, too!) yet the father pulled his beautiful robe up above his knees and sprinted to his son.

You may have walked away from God, but he has not walked away from you. In fact, he will run to you if you will turn back to him. Just like the father of the lost son, God will see you coming, even if you are still a long way off.

Laurie, Greg. New Believer's Bible: New Testament. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2020.