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Luke 18:17
“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
Luke 18:17 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.18.17.KJV
Luke 15:11-12
“And he said, A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.”
Luke 15:11-12 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.15.11-12.KJV
If we look at the word of God and the promises of God through our flesh and experiences, we won’t believe it. We get bogged down in the details.
When a scientist reads the word, he says “how is that possible?”
When an English teacher reads it, he says “that’s using incorrect grammar.”
When a historian reads it, he says, “I’ve got to prove these historical facts.”
When a politician reads it, he says, “that stand is not politically possible. There’s got to be some compromise to grease the wheels to get people to go along with the ideas.”
An accountant reads the word and says “ that’s not how finance works Lord.”
This modern world reads the word and says, “no I’m supposed to build my brand to put out what I want people to hear.”
And on and on it goes.
But a young child looks at his/her parents and trusts. They understand that this is their source of provision. This is their source of love. And that parent could tell a toddler the sky is purple, and that child would believe it because their parent told them and they absolutely trust them.
Even when a child is being belligerent and wants to wear something different or eat something different than the parent is providing, it comes from an attitude of trust. Because they implicitly know that their parent is supposed to provide for them.
So that’s why we must become born again as spiritual children- so we can implicitly trust God with all that we are and need. So we implicitly trust everything he says.
That’s why we must die to ourselves daily- our ways of thinking. Our ways of doing things. And trust what his word and voice tell us to do.
Moses heard God speak and obeyed not because he had evidence, but because God said it.
God himself is the evidence. He’s all the evidence we need- as long as we are in relationship with him.
And that’s the key
The prodigal son left home because he valued his own pleasure and his own will above his relationship with his father.
It’s not the fault of the truth that so many fall away. Scripture says it’s because “they receive not the love of the truth.” And why don’t they receive it? It’s because they “take pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Luke 15: 13-16
“And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”
Luke 15:13-16 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.15.13-16.KJV
The prodigal wasted all that his father gave him in the pursuit of his own will and own pleasure- and wound up destitute and starving.
Living for our own will and desires leaves us spiritually destitute and with no real spiritual food to eat.
“But I have a Bible.”
Yes. But if you don’t read scriptures prayerfully in a relationship with God, you can’t feed yourself.
It’s like having all the fixings for a great pizza, but you don’t know how to turn the flower into dough, turn the tomatoes into the sauce, shred the cheese, slice the meats and veggies, etc.
You could eat the raw ingredients I suppose and get something out of it. But you would much rather have the pizza as it was meant to be.
When we pray and let God lead our Bible study, then we can gain the spiritual sustenance we need to grow in him.
Further, the scripture says if we do not receive the love of the truth, which means it must be given to us by our Heavenly Father, then he will send us strong delusion that we would believe a lie and be damned to hell.
It’s Gods way or hell.
There’s no middle ground and no negotiation.
Submit or be lost.
Luke 15:17-19
“And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”
Luke 15:17-19 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.15.17-19.KJV
When he came to himself.
Truly it could be said, he came to the end of himself. Or reached the end of his ways, or came to his senses.
He didn’t stay there and wallow in self pity. He didn’t send his father a letter begging him to come get him out of the pig pen.
No.
He left his situation, turned straight towards home and humbly admitted his sins, asked for forgiveness , and for the chance just to be a servant.
His father saw him coming a ways off. Oh how he’d wanted him back home. How he’d longed to restore that relationship.
But until his son reached a point of repentance, it was impossible. Even if he had actually gone to where his son was, walked into the honky tonks, and asked him to return, his son would’ve said no.
If he’d found his son soon after he’d arrived at the hog farm, and asked him to return, his son would’ve said no, because he was still trusting in his own abilities and skills to provide for himself.
After all, the boy was raised on a farm. He was used to working the fields and working with the animals. His pride told him, I can do for myself and prove myself to the world.
He may have even thought “I’ll show him. I’ll be better than my father. My new boss will be surprised and pleased with how much I can improve things for him on his farm. He’ll see my good work and reward me!
But the new boss didn’t appreciate his employees ideas. He didn’t allow him to implement changes because he was doing it the way he’d always done it.
“Don’t give me your ideas, boy. Just shut up, do what I say, and work.”
Appears to me that he must’ve kept pushing for changes. His employer treated him harshly and fed him poorly. An employer who appreciates your work doesn’t treat you that way.
When you’re tempted to steal slop from the pigs, you’re hungry.
Finally, he reached the end of himself and decided to throw himself on his father’s mercy.
His friends had long since abandoned him. His employer was cruel.
Even if his Father didn’t restore his status as a son, he knew his father’s servants were treated far better than he was being treated. Maybe dad would let me be a servant.
Luke 15: 20-24
“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
Luke 15:20-24 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.15.20-24.KJV
But Daddy was having none of it. He appreciated his son’s new found humility and willingness to just be a servant.
But this was not a hired servant. This was his son.
He didn’t even respond to his son’s request.
He yelled for the servant. “Bring my best robe and put it on him.”
The boy came home dirty and bedraggled in rags. But his father didn’t just accept him home. He gave him new clothes.
We must allow our father to take off our raggedy clothing- our pride, our self will, our self sufficiency, our self preservation.
And we must allow our father to put on his chosen clothing for us. His righteousness. His provision. His love. His will for our lives.
And that’s what being a Christian really is.
It’s not embracing a religious system. It’s embracing his will.
It’s not learning doctrine. It’s embracing our relationship with him.
When the prodigal left home, he thought he was practicing self preservation. He was preserving his own will, his own desires, his own ways.
But when he reached his full of his own ways, he understood how destructive his ways were, how wrong his ideas had been, and how unrighteous he really was.
It was then that he truly practiced real self preservation.
He returned to his father in humility, repentance, and true appreciation for how good his father and his ways are.
The ways that he once thought of as restrictive and old fashioned he now viewed as true freedom.
The boundaries he once disdained, he now knew were comfortable and protective.
But not only did his father change his clothes, he put his ring of authority on the former prodigals finger.
This meant that he was not just allowed the bare minimum’s at home (as he fully expected when he returned). No, he was given the father’s signet ring.
The former prodigal had truly become a son.
He now could use the father’s authority to conduct business that his father sent him on, and represent his father’s interests to the greater world.
And that’s what he called us to do. Listen, hear, submit, and obey.
It’s not enough just to listen, hear, and obey.
We can obey, but do it from a wrong attitude and still be wrong.
But when we obey with all of our heart, it pleases our father.
Some people are like the elder brother and never leaves for the world. That’s a good thing.
But others of us are not that way. For whatever reason, we’ve left the father’s farm to go it our own way.
But whether the elder brother likes it or not, when we reached the end of ourselves, we humbly returned.
And when we did, we found our father meeting us on the road before we got all the way back.
We have to have righteous clothing to get all the way back, and only our Heavenly Father can give that to us.
We have to walk in his authority to get all the way back. But only he can give that authority to us.
And we found his forgiving arms wide open and ready to receive us.
For regardless what the enemy and the world want to tell us, our father truly loves us!
And he wants us home and in right relationship with him.
