[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]
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.
[/column]
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]
[/column]
[divider type=”1″]
[/divider]
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]
Luke 15:17-20 (NLT)
‘“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ “So he returned home to his father.”’
As I mentioned last week, this year Oasis Community Church had over 20 young people attending Soul Survivor. Cath and I went along also as the token ‘old people’. We had never been camping before and the prospect of spending 5 days and 4 nights in a tent wasn’t exactly appealing.
In all honesty, we had a fantastic time and I would certainly go again, but I remember vividly the first night. We were stuck in traffic on the way to the venue but the ‘team’ had already put up our tent, inflated the air beds and set everything up. We just arrived and all we had to do was unpack our cases. They treated us wonderfully!
The first meeting was amazing and as we made our way back to the tent, the realisation began to dawn on me that this camping thing wasn’t going to be easy. Firstly, it was very, very dark and we could barely find our way back to the tent. The ‘washroom’ facilities weren’t exactly ideal but we decided ‘to grin and bear it’. We made ourselves ready for bed and for the first time, we lay down on an airbed. I can’t say it was uncomfortable but it wasn’t my own bed that’s for sure.
Now I’m getting to the point of this story. I wanted to get some sleep so badly and yet, being the first night on camp, many of the younger element just wanted to express their excitement in a non-quiet manner. I could hear the noise from tents the other side of the field as if they were in my tent with me. I was cold, the airbed had started to deflate and I began to think ‘what on earth am I doing here’. I pictured my own quiet, warm bedroom and imagined myself sleeping soundly on a bed that didn’t have to be pumped up! At that point I really, really wanted to be ‘home’.
This is something like the experience of the younger son, only his experience was infinitely worse than mine. He had spent every penny he had, he was starving and was surrounded by pigs that were eating more food than he could get. His thoughts returned to home and all the comforts that were normal just a short time ago. Even the men that had been hired to work for his father were treated better than he was at this time. Note the phrase in our text today: “When he FINALLY came to his senses”. Other translations say “When he came to himself”. The implication is that this process took some time. It’s staggering to think that he had lost all of his money but still chose to not go home. There was a famine in the land and still he chose not to go home. He found a job feeding pigs and yet even this most humiliating of jobs wasn’t enough to make him go home.
Always remember that for some people, the road to realisation takes a long time. May God grant us patience to continue to pray for and to hope for restoration despite the apparent rejection of the message. Don’t give up. Keep hoping and keep praying.
[/column]