Today’s Reading: Zechariah 13; Zechariah 14; Psalm 147; Luke 15
Scripture: Luke 15:13-17
13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!"
Observation: It is always amazing to me what people will put themselves through in their quest to escape God. Or maybe it would be better to say I marvel that people can consider it preferable to eat pigs' food rather than humble pie by turning back to God. Here was this son of a rich man who took his inheritance and blew it on high times and fast living. When the money ran out he ended up on the street. He took a job feeding pigs and became so desperate that the pigs' food actually started looking mighty tasty! Yum! Eventually, he "came to his senses" and said, "What am I doing here?!?" But how long did he let himself exist in this pigsty mentality before he woke up? Why did he let himself get there at all?
Application: Pride, the root of our sin nature, is so destructive. It can push us out of the beautiful place of blessing and into a filthy pigsty and make us think "Hey, this isn't so bad!" Anyone with half a brain can see IT IS SO VERY BAD! But our sin nature holds so much sway over our minds and our thought processes that it can deceive us if we don't see it for what it is and kill it.
Bottom line: Better to put pride and self-will to death daily and submit to a good and loving God than to wake up with a mouthful of pig slop.
Prayer: Lord, keep my mind fixed on You. Give me insight and brothers and sisters with insight to help me see with truth. Keep me from self-deception and thinking based on sin and lies. You have nothing but good things in store for me. Keep me from accepting anything less than Your best.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
Again we wrote on the same verses with a totally different message coming from it. There's so much truth to extract from this parable. I, too, am amzed at how long people will put up with "pig food" when they could be feasting at God's banquet table; all for the sake of pride. How foolish we humans are at times (myself included).
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