The Parable of the
Prodigal Son

The Parable of the Prodigal Son: The only way back for a prodigal is when he comes to himself Even in the worst circumstances the right decision can lead to freedom again Unforeseen events can quickly change a person's destiny Hunger is a great motivator

Luke 15.11-24

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.

14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.

15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.

16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

17 “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!

18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,

19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.

23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,

24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

The "imagination" is a whole world inside the mind...

Parables are powerful "word-pictures" that are meant to be engrafted into our thinking...as mental pictures do control our thought-life. That's where the "imagination" gets involved. The imagination allows mental exploration of the past, present, future. It is the ability to see pictures and images in the "movie theater" of the mind. The imagination is the "workshop" of the human mind. It is the only thing in the world we have complete control over. That's why GOD takes great interest of what goes on there, and judges what we allow to grow there - Genesis 6.5

The Parable of the Prodigal Son...

Most churches have no tolerance with a prodigal son. They will not let them back in the house It is  a mystery as to why the younger son wanted to leave the house in the first place... The prodigal wasted the money given for his inheritance Even although he received a robe, a ring, and a feast - he had spent the inheritance - and never got it back - it was gone, which will bring future regret and loss.

Is this where our destiny is?

The parable of the prodigal son teaches that hunger is a great motivator for someone to change from the consequences of a bad decision. If a famine had not hit that far country, he would probably stayed there. Bad decisions often cause a lack of money, health, happiness, etc. No one would help him, and that indicated the intensity of his failure.   

When the elder brother came in from the fields, he heard music and asked one of the servants what was going on... He was told his brother had returned home.

The prodigal son's brother was not happy to see him back home, and was particularly angry that a feast was celebrating his younger brother's return...

Many have the attitude that the younger son just came back and received everything he lost.

• This is not the case at all.
  
• He had spent the inheritance.
  
• It was gone.
  
• He did not get it back. It didn't exist anymore.
  

The elder brother did not realize this, and was very upset. We will investigate his role in the story in the Parable of the Elder Brother.

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