Father's Day will be here this Sunday. It has always been a bittersweet holiday for me since 1995. My Father went to be with the Lord Father's Day 1995. I know he is no longer suffering physically and I'm sure he's having a blast in heaven. I do miss him a lot!! Lately I have been thinking about a story in the Bible that is in Luke 15:11 - 32. The Prodigal Son. I wanted to break this parable down into 2 parts. The first part is the Father's point of view and how my Dad would have handled the situation. The second part is all about the Prodigal Son in parable story and how he finally came to his senses and what he learned from all this!
We all know this story and have read it, seen it on video or maybe we have lived it? A man has 2 sons. The younger son approaches his Dad and asks for his share of the estate. He gathers his belongings and heads for a distant land where he squanders his estate with foolish living. After he spends his money a severe famine struck the country so he is forced to get a job. His job is feeding pigs! He had no money and is very hungry. After feeding the pigs he longs for the pig food. He comes to his senses and realizes his own Father's hired hands have plenty to eat. He decides to return home to his father telling him that he is not worthy to be called his son. He gets up and returns to his father. While he is a long way off, his father sees him and has compassion for him. He runs up to him, throws his arms around him and kisses him. The son tells him "I am not worthy to be called your son" but the father tells his slaves to bring his son the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and lets have a celebration. The story continues about the older brother but I won't get into that now.
I often wonder what was going through the mind of the father in this story. The Bible never really mentions what he went through while hos son left the family to supposedly "live his dream." I could only imagine he was probably laying awake at night or maybe pacing around his farm hoping that his son would return. I'm sure he was worried sick! We have all gone through "Prodigal Son moments" in our lives. For me it was a season in my life while I was a Bible College student. Yes! I did say Bible College student. I will always be grateful to my Dad for one thing (besides many other things), he taught me the value of hard work and money. He never spoiled me. When I wanted my first car, he didn't hand me a check and say "Okay, go and pick what you want. He told me "If you want a car, get a job, save your money and buy one. My dream car, a Firebird what out of the question. Instead, I settled for a 1972 Pontiac Ventura! When that car broke down 2 years later, my Dad lent me money with the understanding that I needed to pay him back which I did. 2 years after that I did save money and bought my dream car. No, not a Firebird but a truck! A 1988 Mazda Pick up truck. I loved that truck and hated to sell it but I had to when baby #1 was born. My Dad never handed my my estate just like the Prodigal Son's father. He did give me a life lesson on what it means to work real hard to get not only what you want but what you need.
The second part of this parable I wanted to focus on is smack dab in the middle of the parable. As the Prodigal Son gets a job feeding pigs, he is extremely hungry and the Bible says he longs for the pig food to eat it. The next phrase in that parable is a phrase I hope to one day preach on. It says "when he came to his senses." How many times in life have we been in situations we are in when we really don't need to be in them. Through human mistakes we find ourselves in a struggle. The Prodigal Son came to his senses when he realized he didn't need to be working in a job feeding pigs. He could go home to his father and be well taken care of. How many times have we been in the same predicament! We can always return to our Heavenly Father who never leaves us and never forgets us when we are in a struggle. I'm sure you have been in a situation where you did "come to your senses." I pray that you will always stay close to your Heavenly Father every single day!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!
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