The prodigal son had squandered his inheritance and run from his father. He had lived a lifestyle of sin and excess and ended up in the pigpen of life. There are so many in life who look to the pleasures of sin to find satisfaction but eventually the fruit of their lifestyle leaves them feeling very lost and empty. When the prodigal returned home the Bible tells us his father “ran to him.” (Luke 15:20)
Every time a person lost in sin takes a step in God’s direction, He will come running! What a loving God we serve! When the prodigal son returned there was a great celebration. A fine robe was placed on him and the fattened calf was killed. The elder brother wasn’t too impressed with all of these developments. He became angry and refused to join the celebrations.
The elder brother then said to his father: “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” “My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:29-32)
The story of ‘The Prodigal Son’ typically focusses on the son who left his father’s house for a life filled with sin, but the story also highlights some of the shortfalls of the elder brother. The elder brother failed to appreciate the wonderful grace of God. The prodigal son had repented and turned from his lifestyle of sin and had returned home. Jesus said inLuke 15:7 “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
The Father said “We had to celebrate!” When someone who is dead comes to life, it is the most wonderful thing. It is cause for a great celebration. There is nothing that evokes a greater celebration in heaven than even one precious person turning to God from a life of sin.
But the elder son refused to celebrate. He had no appreciation of God’s grace. His relationship with the Father was based on what he had done. He said “All of these years I have been slaving for you.” He had a works mentality, a slave mentality. Although he was faithful and obedient, it was not as a loving son, willing to please his father, out a heart filled with gratitude.
This elder son’s attitude surfaced, at this great celebration of God’s amazing grace. He had a sense of anger along with a sense of jealousy and regret. He said to his father, “You didn’t even give me a goat to celebrate with my friends.” His response was in effect “Hey, I’m the one who worked so hard for you, this guy has done nothing, where is my reward?!’
This situation exposed his heart and his faith. His relationship with God was about being faithful, and obedient. To some degree, these are wonderful things, but he missed the whole point. The whole point is that God is all about relationship. It’s about having a right understanding of the heart of God.
This situation had revealed a fundamental flaw in the elder son’s relationship with his father. Bitterness had entered his heart because of his lack of appreciation of God’s love and God’s grace. He had misunderstood who God really is.
The Father’s response said it all “My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours.” The Father addressed the heart of this issue. He said “My son”. It is an incredible thing for God Almighty to call us “My son” or “My daughter.” Those two words say so much! Firstly the word “My” implies a sense of ownership and sense of belonging. When we become children of God, we in effect belong to Him.
Secondly the words imply that we are part of His family. Our interests, are God’s interests. God’s interest’s are our interest’s. God care about his own and his next statement reveals this heart towards his own child when he says “all that I have is your’s”
When you are God’s child all that belongs to Him, belongs to you, simply because you are his child. You have the rights and benefits of a child of God. And yet the elder son had somehow missed this incredible truth. He was so upset with this display of grace, because he had missed the fact that he, himself had such a vast inheritance as a child of God.
Now I don’t believe the Father was overlooking all the faithfulness of this elder son, but he was reminding him that because of their relationship, all the fattened calves belonged to him; all the goats belonged to him; all that the Father owned was his inheritance. There was nothing he could do to earn what was already his by right, as a child of God.
The elder son’s lack of appreciation, of his inheritance, had actually prevented him from laying hold of that inheritance. His attitude had robbed him of enjoying this wonderful moment of when his brother had returned home. He should have been rejoicing with everyone else, but he allowed envy and bitterness to creep in.
Today, I want to encourage you to keep a good attitude, when the blessings and grace of God are abounding towards your brother or sister in Christ. Get excited with them! Remember what God has done for them, He will do for you. You are His child! All that He has belongs to you!
Maybe you need a miracle of healing today, or maybe you believe God for the salvation of a loved one. Maybe you just want more of the fruit and power of the Holy Spirit in your life. I want to encourage you, because you are a child of God, you have a wonderful inheritance and God is looking to you to claim it by faith! All that God has is yours!
Don’t allow bitterness to creep in and rob you of enjoying all the fullness of what God has for you. As a child of God, you have a vast inheritance. You have a wonderful relationship with God. As soon as you begin to understand and appreciate this truth, you will have a generous spirit and attitude towards others. Your attitude will reflect and bless the heart of God.
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