The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Luke 16:1-18 (day two)

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” vs. 10

If you’ve ever spent time in a choir rehearsal that wasn’t going particularly well, you have probably heard someone say; “this is just rehearsal, we’re saving it for the performance.” These words irritate every director I’ve ever known. That kind of “we’ll do better in performance” mentality didn’t work well in a public school classroom, and it especially doesn’t work in the classroom of faith. When we practice our praise, we worship. There is no time when we are out of audience with the Lord, and therefore never a time when he is not the object of our praise. It is the same with any resource. We must steward as God would have us to steward: money, time, people, worship.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day seven)

“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” vs 19

Have you ever played the game Monopoly? There is a card you can acquire called a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.  In the game, if you ever end up in jail, you can use the card to get out immediately and continue about the game. Many church attenders treat their faith like this card. Do something you think is really bad? It’s okay, God will forgive you. God’s love has become their “Get Out of Hell Free” card.

Living like that, are you fully appreciating the love of the Father? If you knew His love, you could not just shrug off your sin and go about your life. If you knew His love, sin would break you. What I appreciate most from the parable is that the prodigal is willing to indenture himself as a slave in his father’s household. He wasn’t expecting a “Free” card back to the life he had. He recognized something many of us miss: when you know the love of the Father, you will do anything you can to be near His love.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day six)

When Israel was a child, I loved him,  and I called my son out of Egypt.-God, Hosea 11:1

Both sons were prodigals. One son squandered his inheritance, only to return after he hit rock bottom, the second had forgotten what it meant to be a son altogether.

Jesus told this beloved parable to remind the religious leaders of what it means to be a son. They had exchanged the covenant relationship with God for something he never intended. Rather than sons, they had become slaves to their own self-righteousness.

Jesus beckons them, “Why live as a slave, when I have called you to be my son.”

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day five)

“I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;” 

Everything had gone wrong for the prodigal son. Money gone. Famine came. Limited work and food. It got him thinking about what he truly missed and what he truly needed. He missed the meals, the standing he had in the community and at his house. But what he needed, was the love and care that came from his father. It’s significant (I think) that Jesus does not say the prodigal desired to go back to the village or to his home (to get back what he missed). Rather he had resolved to find and talk to his father. The prodigal’s greatest concern was a right relationship with his father (what he needed). You can hear it in the speech he prepared to give. How he hoped for a relationship with his father. And we know from this parable, that immediately the relationship was made right.  And we know from the scriptures it can be for us too, with our Heavenly Father!!
Romans 10:13, 1 John 1:8-9

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day four)

In pride, the son asked for his inheritance.  It was his, he deserved it…or so he thought.  He was no longer willing to live under his Father’s decisions…he could make his own choices!

When we reject Christ, we are just like the prodigal.  We want to control our own life.  For him, it resulted in his fall to the bottom of life.  Fortunately for him, he recognized his total depravity.  There was nothing he could do to resolve his situation.  His Father was his only hope.  Christ is our only hope.  Left to our sin, we have no way of salvation.  The prodigal had nothing to offer his Father.  He threw himself on the grace of his Father in hopes of receiving at least enough to sustain life.  What the son discovered was the boundless love of his Father.  When we come to Christ…with nothing to offer that is deserving of grace and love…we receive forgiveness and heirship through His sacrifice.  What we could not possibly do on our own, Christ bestows to us freely.  Are you ready to come home?

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day three)

“And they began to celebrate.”

There are two types of people in the world: the cynics who like Ecclesiastes, and the optimists who like Ruth. I’m kidding. Or am I? This parable has something for all comers, fortunately. Wherever you find yourself on the life spectrum – world-weary or hopeful – has Jesus got a story for you. The wow factor here, when you consider that Jesus isn’t talking about rainbows and unicorns, but about the God who actually exists, is overwhelming. But when you linger on that last phrase – “they began to celebrate” – the atmosphere grows heavy as foreboding clouds seem to move in. You could stop there (and our assigned text indeed does) but if you can proceed, you’ll discover unfathomable sorrow as Jesus reveals how the heart of God is wrenched by all who will not rejoice with him.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day two) I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. vs. 19

I hate to be wrong. The truth of the matter is that I often am…wrong, that is. It bothers me not simply because I didn’t have the right answer at the time, but it means going backward. It means admitting defeat or ignorance. It means starting over. In his landmark book Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis talks about this in terms of arithmetic. No matter how precise and exact your formulas, equations, and processes are, if you make a mistake in your arithmetic there is no amount of formulae that will make it accurate. Sometimes getting forward means going backward. Back to the beginning, to the mistake; addressing it, and then moving forward. In the case of believers it is a matter of recognizing how fallen we are. The reality of who we are in comparison to our great God puts a perspective of grave humility. We want to be near, if only to eat from the table scraps. But that is not how God meets us. Come with humility, receive the embrace of forgiveness.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day seven)

When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. vs 5

God loves you. He loves you so much that He is willing to leave the ninety-nine to chase you when you have gone astray. Some have called this love “reckless.” Though it may seem irrational for the Shepherd to chase after one lost sheep while He has ninety-nine other perfectly safe sheep, it shows that God’s love is definitely not reckless. It is, in fact, relentless.

He loves you so much that He is coming down the mountain (thanks Scott) and picking you up, putting you on His shoulders. God knows that if he puts a leash around your neck or tries to herd you back, you will fight and take your time, lingering in the danger for a little while longer. When you realize you have been lost for far too long, and you surrender to the Shepherd, He puts you on His shoulders! He picks up the pieces of your broken puzzle and fits them back together. He pulls you out of the mess you have gotten yourself trapped in and makes 100% sure that you are safe. He carries you home! Thats relentless love!