Daily Devotion for September 27, 2006

Prodigals

 

“And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming.” Luke 15:20

 

The most familiar passages in the Bible are often the hardest places for me to find meaning. I read them, heard them, been there before.  I feel like I heard it a few times too many. It gets to the “yada, yada, yada” stage.

 

So today I’m challenged to reach into that oh so familiar story from the perspective of my present childhood as a Christian. Frankly, I rejoice in this opportunity.

 

The first thing I notice, reading the story now, is that there is not an issue of whether it is a true story. It states clearly that it is a parable that Jesus invents to illustrate the joy of God when a sinner repents. That is interesting to me because it fills every detail of the story with Jesus’ intentions. It says to me, “Read carefully, Tim. Every word has intended meaning.”

 

The Life Application Study Bible that I rely on gives a lot of support in that direction if you’re interested in that sort of thing. But I did notice one thing: the word “prodigal” does not appear in the New Living Translation of the parable. Not once.

 

“Prodigal” is a word you don’t hear a lot these days. In fact, I think my experience with the word stems almost entirely from this one parable. So I had to look it up. I found it has two related but very different meanings. One fits very much within the phrase “prodigal son” in this story. That meaning of “prodigal” is “reckless, extravagantly wasteful.” That definition made me wonder if other nations of the world think of us as the prodigal country!

 

Then, though, there is the other meaning of “prodigal.” It can also mean “very generous.” The parable could just as well have become identified as the story of the prodigal father under this meaning! Because we have a prodigal God, don’t we, most generously eager to welcome us back when we see where our reckless living has taken us. For this we must give thanks!

 

Prayer
Dear Prodigal God,
 That you for welcoming me back every time I wander into sin.  This is the greatest grace I know. Forgive me when I am a “prodigal” and help me be a “prodigal” to others.  I thank and praise you for that. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

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