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This week we are continuing our study of Luke Chapter 15. Please read verses 11 to 24 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 15:11-12 (New American Standard Bible)
‘And He said, “A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ And he divided his wealth between them.”’
For a very short time, I was employed to sell life assurance policies. I think I’ve mentioned this previously and I have to say that I hated every minute of it. Many of the people I saw were very receptive to the idea of life assurance because they wanted to provide an amount of money that was more than adequate to pass on to their children.
Some men were less than enthusiastic to their wives wanting to insure their husbands with vast amounts of money. I witnessed some women being very, very happy at the thought of the passing on of their ‘better half’. Money does all sorts of things to people and more often than not brings out the worse parts of their character.
In our parable today, I believe that the younger son wasn’t really motivated by money. I don’t think that he wanted to leave his father’s house in order to have the money. Perhaps the opposite is true – he needed the money in order to leave the house.
Studies by the University of Texas, Journal of Individual Psychology have shown that the youngest child in the family tends to be more creative, rebellious and attention-seeking.
I suspect that the younger son in the parable is no different to people today. He may well have grown tired of living at home and wanted to be free of the ‘control’ of his father. It may well be that he thought he’d be able to enjoy life more without that restraint and needed ‘space’. Well, things are no different today and in order to do any of that you need money. So, he asks his dad not just for a financial gift, but for the entire share that he would receive after his father’s passing. We live in an age where everyone is desperate to be treated equally, but back then, the ‘share’ was actually not equal between the sons. The firstborn would have a ‘double-portion’ and so the younger was actually receiving just one third of the estate. The son didn’t care how the father was going to raise the money. He wanted it there and then. Can you imagine what the father was thinking? This son considers his own freedom to be of greater value than spending time within the loving care and protection of his father. Regardless, the father did exactly what the son requested.
God is our Father and this parable speaks volumes about His character. Sometimes, we too have rejected God’s love and His protection just so that we can enjoy ourselves for a time. His love and grace never fails though and be assured that forgiveness is always available for those who call on His Name. My message today is that we not follow in the footsteps of the younger son, but come to a position where we all cherish the presence of our Heavenly Father and learn to find all that we need in Him.
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