My Son Was Dead, and Is Alive Again

Luke 15:24

You cannot sin without something dying. Sin kills the power to discriminate between right and wrong. You can compromise with truth so long that you lose the power to know it. Sin deadens the affections so that you become hard, calloused and insensitive to sin. The more you do wrong, the less you respond to the call of God. Sin also kills your power to act in accordance with conscience and intelligence. The prodigal son went into the far country by his own will, but he was sent into the fields to work by another’s will. He did not want to do his father’s will; he had his own way, and ended up enslaved to a stranger.

Everything in life has a price. You pay a price to be bad, in loss of freedom and self-respect. The price for sin’s delight is far beyond what you get. You also pay a price for goodness ~ in self-denial, prayer, discipline. However, you receive far more than you expect. When you buy evil, you get what you want immediately and pay the price in installments ~ like buying a car; When you buy goodness, you pay in advance and get the reward later ~ like going to college.

When the prodigal son headed for home, his father saw him a long way off and ran to meet him. They say that love is blind. Not at all! Love is far-sighted. The father saw him at a distance; he embraced him and gave him the kiss of forgiveness. When the son said, “Treat me as one of your hired servants,” the father responded by treating him as a son. He gave him a new robe, a ring, and a pair of shoes—all signs of sonship and honor. He hired the local band and held a feast. And the son, who once was dead, began to live again!

Thought for the day: We are not at home in this world until we are at home with God.

John Seamands