In Search Of A Better Tomorrow

Daily Devotional: Time Alone With God

by Pastor Phil Stout, JAXNAZ

Read: Luke 15:11-24

Luke 15:11-24
New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Daily Devotional Start

Consider: The three parables of Luke 15—the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son—all end in celebration. There is one simple reason for that. What was lost was finally found.

Now if a shepherd loses a lamb or a woman loses a coin, it’s pretty obvious that something is missing. But when it comes to seeing that we ourselves are lost, we can be pretty slow (or too stubborn) to see it.

The son who left his father had no clue that he was lost. He kept going the wrong direction, picking up speed and running farther from home. He thought he was doing a pretty good job managing his life. He experienced great tragedy, sorrow and loss before “he came to his senses” (15:7).

What was obscured to the son was obvious to the father. We see that when the son returned and the father exclaimed…

“This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (15:24)

Our Father never stopped waiting for us. He never wrote us off as being unredeemable. He never gave up on us. But he had to wait. He couldn’t (and wouldn’t) force us to come home. He waited and waited. When we were humble enough—when we came to our senses—it became possible for the lost to be found and the dead to be raised.

Pray: “Lord, the thing that can draw me away from you is my delusion of self-sufficiency. When I forget that I am lost without you, I’m tempted to wander into strange lands. Today I walk with confidence because I walk with my Father in the direction you take me.”