Today's Devotional

 

November 5, 2007

                                                                                  

Subject:   After You Have The Goods  

Luke 15:11 - 12 "And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living." 

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When we are young, we generally think that having lots of money can solve all of our problems and that wealth can make us self-sufficient.  The parable of the prodigal son shows that.  That parable also shows something else that I had never seen until our pastor preached on this yesterday.  When the younger son asked for his "portion of the goods," the father also seems to have given the older son his "portion..."

The contrast between the two sons then boils down to what each of them did with their portion.  The younger son had the problem that I mentioned earlier.  He thought that his wealth would last him forever.  We are often amazed when we hear stories of celebrities or million-dollar athletes who are flat broke, having squandered their wealth.  Yes money can make us believe that "we" are in control. 

Now look at the other son.  Given his portion, he remained home doing the same thing that he had done before.  That's the way people say they would be if they won the lottery or came into a lot of money.  The only problem was that the older son still had issues of envy and jealousy that were irrelevant to the money.

I think the message here is that all things are given of God to help expose the hearts of men to themselves.  With that exposure, we should then make adjustments to return to the Father what is rightfully His.  That is our undivided devotion.    

Carlen