When
one who has been lost is found, there is always rejoicing...right? If we could all love as purely and forgive as
completely as our heavenly father this would be the case. But we can't, so sometimes other feelings rob
us of rejoicing over a brother's return from the "far country." Jesus' third parable in Luke 15 is often
referred to as the Prodigal Son, but it's also about the older son who was just
as confused as his brother about what living in the Father's house really
meant.
When the
younger son left, demanding "the share of property that is coming to
me," we're not told about the initial reaction his older brother had. But if his later attitude is any indication,
it may have been that he looked on judgingly and thought "Just what I
thought he'd do." He may have even
been envious, thinking "Here I am slaving away, and he gets out of serving
Father AND gets his inheritance early!"
To be
sure, the younger brother was choosing death, as far as his relationship to the
Father was concerned (v. 32), and his forgiveness would require that he leave
his sinful life and come home. This
falls right in line with Paul's inspired words, "...how can we who have
died to sin still LIVE in it? (Romans 6:2 emp. added).
But
let's not pretend it is always easy to rejoice with others. The older brother was angry that his little
brother had wasted his inheritance, come to his senses, and returned home to
live again. His anger stemmed from
jealousy. (v. 29) But here's the problem
with jealousy and selfishness: " For
where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every
vile practice." (James 3:16) Our
heavenly father is ALWAYS happy when His children come back to Him, and He
wants us to feel that same joy. Are you the prodigal who is estranged from the
Father and need to come home? Or are you the elder brother who needs to realize
that your faithfulness hasn't earned you an extra ounce of God's love. His love
for the faithful and the lost is so great that He gave Jesus to die for us.
----Darrell Powell
No comments:
Post a Comment