”For this my son
was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be
merry.” – Luke 15:24
In the fifteenth
chapter of the Gospel as recorded by St. Luke, we find the parable of the
prodigal son. This parable within a parable is one of my favorite
passages of scripture in all of the Word of God, because is so rightly
encapsulates the entire plan of salvation.
The parable of
the prodigal son tells of a boy who received a certain sum of money from his
wealthy father. Upon the receiving of the money he went into a “far
country” to spend his cash on whatever pleased him. He soon was broke and
hungry, and then sought employment feeding pigs. He was so hungry and
improvised that he “fain to fill himself with husk that the swine did
eat.” I can just picture this young man dropping to his knees and staring
into the trough, his belly contracted to his backbone from lack of sustenance,
and his body, bony and battered from lack of nutrients, and hard living.
There while staring into the slop the thought finally comes to him “how many of
my father’s servants have bread enough to eat and I parish with hunger?”
The scriptures say that he “came to himself” he realized that his own pride was
all that was holding him in this life of sin and poverty, and quickly arose
turning his back on his riotous living and hasting towards fathers house.
Finally, the parable concludes with the warm reception of the lost boy back
into his father’s house, thereby the implied forgiveness of his past
transgressions, and the witness of reconciliation from the father by these
simple words: “ for this my son was dead and is alive again and was lost but
now is found.”
If you read your Bibles carefully you will find that this much is certain.
If we, as men and women, expect to find a warm reception into the kingdom of
heaven we must: 1) recognize our lost condition, subsequently turn our backs on
all our wicked ways and walk towards father’s house. 2) After the Father
forgives us for sinning against heaven and in his sight we must then accept the
free gift of being restored to the status of being called His son. This
restoration comes not by wealth or merit, but by the grace of God, and through
the blood Christ. The boy came back hoping for forgiveness and longing to
be only a servant; the father forgave all past transgressions and restored him
back to his fallen estate calling him “son”. “My son”, furthermore he
killed the best calf, and put a ring on his hand (most likely the signet ring,
which was in that day a symbol of authority over all that fell under what it
signifies i.e. the fathers estate. In essence, the wearer of the signet
ring owned what the giver of the ring owned.); moreover he called the whole
company to rejoice that his “son” was alive again and found.
The
prodigal son is an allegory to the path our soul must trod if we to find
fellowship with the Father. If you are hungry and famished, if the
effects of living how you want to live have taken its toll on your soul; then
arise, turn your back on your way and walk towards God. He will forgive,
and moreover, he will give you the gift of the Spirit of adoption this
signifying that you are a child of a king (Romans 8:15). You must but
forsake your sins, self, anything else, and believe he has forgiven, for he
will forgive (1 John 1:9). You must then call upon Jesus to send the Holy
Ghost in his name. This Holy Ghost will testify of Christ and come and
dwell in your life; let him (Jesus) be the captain of your soul. Then
accept the gift of reconciliation, by faith knowing the work is done. Be
a Prodigal no more.
Any:
Questions, Comments, Thoughts? I can be reached at pgcollins65@gmail.com
