Thoughts on the Prodigal Son – Mountain Ranch Convention – 2008

The prodigal son didn’t realize that the treasure was found in his father’s house.  He turned from the true source.  Flesh will always turn its back on the true source.  We don’t have the foresight to see ahead because our human nature has no perception.
He, at one point in his life, felt that in leaving his father’s house he was free to choose and live the life he pleased.  He felt his life was his own and he had the right to choose whatever he wanted, to go wherever he wanted to go, and to do whatever he wanted to do.  However, he soon realized that true freedom lay within his father’s house, not in the world.
He knew that in the world there was no freedom but he was bound to it, and a slave to his own flesh. (Isn’t it so amazing that Satan tells us we have more freedom giving in to the flesh and the world?)  The prodigal learned from his experience that he not only wasted time, he wasted opportunities and his strength.  He came to an end of all his natural resources and realized there was far greater provision inside his father’s house.
By nature, we are all prodigals but aren’t we grateful for the hand of God that brought us to the end of our resources and helped us acknowledge before Him that we have sinned and fallen short of His grace?  We always want the hand of God to counsel, guide, teach and instruct us for “…we dare not walk alone.”
When we feed the hunger of our flesh, it controls and leads us into experiences we can’t even imagine outside of His will.  The Father’s provision can never be maintained outside of His will.
The prodigal also allowed flesh to overrule, and he ended up eating with the pigs.  Our fleshly appetite will always lead us to making worldly friends and feeding on things that don’t benefit us.  The emptiness and hunger in the soul of the prodigal drove him back to his father’s house for he realized the abundance therein.  He also remembered the bread and to spare.  His hunger became greater than his shame.
Our flesh has no foresight but the God of Heaven sees afar off.  When we draw near to Him, He sees us and gives us a greater vision and we can let go of the things that have bound us to the earth.  God is a loving Father; He sacrificed His very best for us.
If we follow our human nature and its tendencies, it only produces selfishness and emptiness.  But if we follow Jesus, we will know great rejoicing, a greater fellowship, a greater companionship, and a greater compassion.  Feeding on the flesh only helps us turn our back on our Father.  We can’t survive, and we can’t support it.