Luke 15:11-24 - My Prodigal Wandering

Isaiah says that we are ALL like sheep that have strayed, going our own way and losing our way back to God. (3/15/21 - Isaiah 53:6 - Gamboling)

Jesus told some parables on that theme:
The Parable of the Lost Sheep (2/21/21 - Luke 13:1–3 - Repent!)
The Parable of the Lost Coin (1/5/21 - Luke 15:2-10 - Parable of the Lost Watch)

...and The Parable of the Lost Son, The Prodigal Son.

I've heard that story since I was a boy.
I liked hearing how God loves the worst sinner.
That must mean God is sure to love me, since I was never as bad as the Prodigal, right?
("God, I thank you I'm not like the Prodigal..." Gulp! See Luke 18:11.)

But there are a lot of different ways of "going prodigal."
It could be as simple as one's love for God cooling off. (Matthew 24:12; Revelation 2:4).

Sometimes I need to pray before reading scripture, not just afterward:
Lord, it's too easy to look down on the Prodigal, as if I'd never be that bad. The truth is that I wander off, too. It doesn't matter how, it doesn't matter where it's led.
My heart is just as "prone to wander." My love for You cools off too easily. (Matthew 24:12; Revelation 2:4).
Restore me to my senses,
Call me back home,
Pull me back to You.
Let me see myself in this story...

Luke 15:11–24 (New Living Translation, 2015)
11 ...“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.
Amen!