Prodigal Priority

Luke 15:11-32

The bible says “… a certain man had two sons…” (Luke 15:11 NET), now from the countenance of who Jesus was referring to, the parable lets us know that He was referring to His Father in Heaven, the Love He had, the compassion He was moved with, The Father that heard what the son was thinking no matter how far out he was, (vs20 “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him.”) because distance was not a challenge. It’s also important that we understand the need for Jesus’s parable in the bible, a cast aside, which refers to a scenario is not a story but in this case reality. This message of reality had to be passed across in a parable. Now “…the two sons” referred to in Luke speaks about the two kind of sons that God has. As a believer we ought to know which category we fall in, the driving point in which Jesus was aiming towards in this parable referring to the two sons (kind of believer) was how priority differentiates every believer.

            However the younger son said to his father “… give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.” (vs. 12) another translation says “… give me my inheritance…” Our opinion of the younger son’s request from his father is viewed as an absurd request, we see a younger brother who was very greedy, not contented, youthful, exuberant, and money-minded. But the main point Jesus is pointing at isn’t the monetary aspect but signifying to us the kind of son we ought to be, not like the older brother who symbolizes religion in the church, not the silent religious son that’s in the fields working all day yet having everything but isn’t inheritance. The bible speaks of “The Father who has qualified you to share in the saint’s inheritance in the light” (Col 1:12 NET). The bible describes Him as a Father who is able to give to His sons and daughters. Taking us to our next key point in the parable, which a big emphasis is laid on the word “give”, he asked his father to give him what was his, which signifies to us that he knew how to pray and what to ask for.

            Now as the focus of the parable is redirected from the perception given to the church of a younger son that’s unfocused, straying away and snatched away by the money. However Jesus sheds some more light on how religion presented to the believer blinds you from what God is saying. Religion does not doubt the fact that God would not answer your request but you have to wait for a long time, but Jesus is showing us that nothing can contest with the time that God already has on His side to prove His faithfulness. It’s very important to understand that religion is not of God, so what the enemy capitalizes on are factors that might affect His faithfulness on a surface view, which deals with time. Many believers perception being altered by religion depicts to us what an individual ought to look like (which is from a physical view) before walking in some realm of abundance (e.g. “you should be a certain age before you become a millionaire”). The crutch here for such explanation in the church is “godliness and contentment”, which is also wrongly interpreted, it’s been defined as waiting on God to do a miracle however studying through the bible we learn that a miracle has never been initiated by God, it has always been a man asking God for something and through faith in God the man makes it happen, the bible says “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be open for you (Matt 7:7 NET).

            Furthermore, a very comforting and confident assurance that we have with God and not man is what the bible states as unchangeable is “… it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrew 6:18 NET), another scripture says “For Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 NET). Now putting both scriptures together it reads “There is nothing impossible with God and its impossible for Him to lie”, which brings us to the conclusion of what you see is what you get and what He says is what you get, “…the LORD said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever (Gen 13:14-15 NET). The parable enlightens us for the need to get reed of culture and religion in the church, God isn’t bound by culture, beliefs, or ideology, he is bound by His Word. While religion focus on the timing aspect, culture focuses on the age range and who is older should receive what, but going by the Word of God, Jesus shows us that the younger brother symbolizing the son we ought to be who was more in tune with his communication with his father which means prayer.

            The parables goes on to tell us about the older brother who is always in the field, which symbolizes religion and routine that goes on the church today, it depicts a believer that’s one sided and neglecting the other which is your rights; your inheritance. The message here is to get us to understand that we all have to prioritize some things while serving The Father, however not religiously or with a carnal mind. Every believer ought to come to The Father with things on our mind “… casting all your cares on Him because he cares for you.” (1 peter 5:7 NET). The message definitely should leave a question in every believers mind, what kind of son am I? You ought to be a son that has priority on your mind. We have to understand that God never fights the devil for a gift that belongs to you, the bible tells us that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10 NET), however the realization that in Christ we have all things “In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of Him …” (Ephesians 1:11 NET) and that is as a result of our redemption in Christ, so we have all we can ever need in Christ, another scripture tells us “… His divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness …” (2 Peter 1:3 NET).

            However we now understand that the knowledge the younger brother had of his father was what prompted his request, he knew who and what his father was, he symbolizes a believer that not only comes to church and serve in the fields but knows he has an inheritance with God. In contrast to the younger brother, many believers still don’t understand their rights in God just like the older brother because your rights springs up from your concrete knowledge of what happened on Calvary. Lack of this knowledge leaves a believer void of A LOT!!! If you don’t understand why His blood was shed, beaten for over five hours then you’ll be void of a lot. Surroundings and environment, doctrines, scientific view often times clouds our perception, what often comes to mind when anyone hears the word “blood”, its defined as a red liquid that your heart pumps round the body which is defined correctly in your dictionary but its more than that, the blood that was shed on Calvary signifies something Halleluiah !!! It represents the righteousness that was purchased, but without this knowledge the believer can roam the earth though heaven bound but isn’t walking in the result and promises that God wants him to.

Now the younger son symbolizes the believer that understood why Jesus died, so his request was predicated on the knowledge he had of Calvary that by the name of Jesus he could get anything from The Father “… so that whatever you as The Father in My Name He will give you.”(John 15:16 NET) He took his father by his word and requested for what was rightly his. The message in this parable sheds some light on the importance of communication and fellowship with God as a believer, the church who is only working for God and not talking to God will always be limited in all they do.

            Though He made some mistakes after receiving what was his, the bible states that “After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.” (vs.13) his relationship with his father got him to come to himself, he always had in mind who his father is “But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! (vs. 17), so he went back to his father and The Love of The Father which pass all understanding still accepted him with open arms despite his mistake. A major question that the parable leaves us with is,  the bible states that the younger son  asked for a particular asset that belonged to him, so the father knew that the son knew what was his so he had to give it to him. What is your inheritance in God?