Being A Good NeighborSample

Who We Are

Luke 15 is a really interesting chapter in the New Testament. It talks about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the two lost sons. These stories show us that God is deliberate and intentional about how much He wants to be in our lives. 

The first story is about a sheep that gets lost and the shepherd chases it until he gets it back. In the story of the woman who loses a valuable coin, she finds it and rejoices. And then, Jesus shares an amazing final story.

“The Prodigal Son” is the story of a man with some means who has two sons. Suddenly, the younger son said to his father, “Dad, give me my share of the inheritance,” which culturally was a very serious thing. What this young man said was, “I wish you were dead so that I can have my money.” He insulted his dad. Nevertheless, the father still gave his son what he asked for!

This young man took his inheritance to a foreign land to party and live wildly. Sadly, in a very short time he wasted it all away. When he found himself out of funds, a great crisis hit the land. Penniless, desperate, and destitute he tried to secure a job. Now, Jews don’t eat pork. They look down on pigs because, for them, this is an unclean animal. And yet the only job this young man could find was feeding pigs. Hungry and weary, at one point he looked at what the pigs were eating and thought to take some himself.

It was in this moment that he came back to his senses and thought about going back to his dad. But how could he dare to do so?

With these stories Jesus is revealing to us who we are. We are the lost sheep. We are the lost coin. We are this man who didn’t want to be near his father – who wished him dead. Brash, ungrateful, self-absorbed. In desperate need of coming back home. Spiritually broke. Hungry. Destitute. But deep down, knowing He is our only hope.

Today we can come to our senses and start the long journey back to Him. Today we can gamble it all on the assurance that we know He is good. Let’s not wait any longer before we come back to Him. Let’s humble ourselves and confess our sin.

“Father, I have sinned. Please forgive me. And take me back in.”