The Prodigal Son by Matt CarterSample

Day 4: The Consequences 

No one would choose to do something wrong if they knew what lay at the end of their decision. The prodigal would have never asked his father for his inheritance if he understood the consequences that awaited him on his journey. Before he requested his inheritance, the far country beamed with the promises of a better life. We’ve already seen the prodigal take His fateful first step down the path towards sin and rebellion in a distant land. Today we see what he found waiting for him at the end of the road. 

Jesus wasted no time revealing the consequences of the prodigal’s decision. The young man took his father’s gift and squandered it on “loose living.” The language here communicates that the man took all he was given and threw all his possessions to the wind. He was broke and unfulfilled. 

The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us what the prodigal was hoping to find in the far country was the same thing we all want. God has placed eternity in our hearts, and we are all hardwired to search for it. When we look for it in places other than God, we wind up lost in sin. All of us are searching for fulfillment that can only be found in God. Sin will always leave us broken and unfulfilled. 

Lost and searching people are trying to fill a hole that only God can fill. Filling it another way only leads to pain and sadness. Jesus is telling this story for people like us who have all searched for their own path. He is telling us, through the prodigal, the life you truly want is here for you—it’s found in Me and Me alone. 

Consider these questions: Why does it often take us going our own way before we realize the folly of our actions? What keeps us from heeding warnings along the way?