REALITY OF THE WORD SERIES: The Prodigal Son And His Elder Brother

The Prodigal Son And His Elder Brother - Was Their Father Unfair Or Not?

When we read Luke 15:25-33, we see the story of the “bad” son who demanded his father to give him his share of his dad’s properties. This is quite surprising because his dad hadn’t even died yet and here is the younger son, not even the older one demanding his share of the properties. These properties he didn’t even work for, those were the results of the toils of his father. As kind as the dad was, he gave him his share and he went off to a far country and squandered all his money to the last penny! The Bible says he WASTED his possessions! And here was his elder brother always being the “good” boy of the house-the daddy pleaser. Amazingly, the father always stands in front of the gate in anxious expectation of the return of this “rascal” and “disobedient” son. At this point I thought daddy was being unfair to the elder son. What about him? Is he not also a son who needs his father’s attention and care? Or is it that daddy didn’t love him as much as he loved his second son?

I further read the scriptures and I found out something about the eldest son; his MENTALITY and ATTITUDE was wrong. When the younger son returned and a party was thrown for him, the elder son got angry that daddy never cared to even give him the leanest cow, whiles he was the obedient self-righteous and the dad pleaser of the house. He had always believed that he was the best son (Luke 15:28-30). He is the son who goes out to the field to work (Luke 15:25). He has served daddy and never broken any of his commands, yet daddy never even gave him a young calf to even kill and make merry with his friends. When he confronted his father about the whole issue, his father responded by making a profound statement- Luke 15:31“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours”. WOW! ALL THAT THE FATHER HAD ALWAYS BELONGED TO THE ELDER SON?? How come the elder son never realized it? It meant he could have even killed the fattest cow and made merry with it at any time he wanted. Yet he never did, but rather got angry and complained when his father took a calf to kill for his lost son who had returned.

This really struck me. Most of us children of God have always had everything we ever needed in God, yet like the elder son we don’t use it, and when we see other believers who may not seem “righteous” living the good life, we complain to God and get angry that God is blessing someone more than we. When you see a brother progressing, give thanks to God. The elder brother was very religious, self righteous and didn’t have much trust in his Father to have actually given him anything he wanted. He wanted to earn what his Father has already given him. This attitude blinded him from freely partaking of what his father had left to his name. Let’s not be like that.

Bible says that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3). He has given us ALL we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3-4). The Bible then says that “meditate on these things (His Word), give yourself WHOLELY to them and your profiting (progress) will be evident to all (1 Tim 3:15)”. If you see someone progressing in the blessings of God, watch his lifestyle, his secrete is this.. “He had given himself WHOLELY to the word of God. He has his whole TRUST in the word of God”.When God says all things are yours, He is SERIOUS. Why wouldn’t you rather release that potential and giftings and possessions God has placed inside you? HOW?? By consciously keeping our mind on what God has told us in his word and by PRAYER.

Some people don’t partake of the blessings of God because just like the elder son because they don’t even know what these blessings are. Ask yourself how many times you even study God’s WORD in a week? When was the last time you listened to a preaching tape? These are the things we are supposed to stay(meditate) our minds on. Which songs do you feed your mind on? These things convey words into our mind which affects our way of thinking and hence our actions and decisions.

That is why God says we should renew our minds (our way of thinking) through his Word (Rom 12:2). When you have fully gotten the word filled up in your mind, it forms your mentality-it now becomes your mindset; your normal way of reasoning. So now the way you think changes, the way you talk changes and the actions you take also changes, all in conformity to the Word of God which now is in you. This is how the success of your life comes by.

You see, let us not be too religious with our dealings with God. When God says he has given you something, he means it! Just like the prodigal son, BELIEVE and ENJOY EVERYTHING God has made available for you in this life through His Word. God will not love you more or less because of what you do or do not do, because his love for you is founded in Christ. The measure of love God has for you is the same measure of love he has for his son JESUS, and the same measure of love he has for everyone who believes in Him. This is called GRACE !

It doesn’t matter how far you have gone in life. Recognize you have a Father who always loves you and is anxiously waiting for you to acknowledge the love he has for you. That love is bigger than any wrong you can ever commit!!!

If you don’t know this God, let me tell you that he has given us his Son, JESUS- believe in him today and ask him to come into your heart (Rom 10:9-10). This decision will change your life forever and give you all the joy and peace you have been seeking.

By: Gifty Sitsofe Amewor

Check out these websites for more info:

http://www.awmi.net/reading/teaching-articles/come_from

https://chariswordgh.wordpress.com/receive-salvation