April 14 – The Lost Son – Luke 15
The Lost Son is a parable also known as “The Prodigal Son.” There are so many applications and lessons throughout today’s reading. One of the main points of all of the parables is the rejoicing that takes place over the sheep, coin, and son that was found. A similarity with both the sheep and coin was that there was much searching done. All was left until the lost sheep and lost coin was found. With the lost son the father stayed home. The father must have endured many sleepless nights worrying over his son. It must have been quite difficult not to go find his son, and bring him back home. It was totally up to the son to come home. As with the lost sheep and lost coin, there was much rejoicing over the lost son coming home.
In verse 14 we see what God used to bring the son to his senses. God uses an act of nature to cause much discomfort in the son. This is what got the son to thinking he should come home. In order to come home the son knew he would need to humble himself and ask forgiveness. It is important to note that the son had senses that could come back to him. This implies the son had a good, solid, character-building childhood. It is vitally important for parents to train up a child in the way he “should” go. The best character trait parents could plant into their child is the desire to please God.
