Over the course of this year, I have heard the bible story about the prodigal son more times than I can count. My first team and I heard it randomly from somebody at least once a month. That birthed a running joke on our team that someone must be the prodigal son and God is trying to teach them something. Here are the instances I can remember.
Puerto Rico
– We put on a seminar for the men at the drug rehab center we served at and felt led to share the story of the prodigal son. This is where it first started.
Dominican Republic
– The pastor we served with all month gave a sermon about a baby doll he found after he watched a kid beat the doll to death. He talked about how the doll is like the prodigal son…beaten and dirty but God the loving father still wants it.
– I can’t remember why but God led me to share the story to the entire squad at the end of the month when we held our own church service.
Bolivia
– I read a book called “Slavery to Sonship” where the story was frequently mentioned.
– One of the churches we attended talked about it.
Peru
– Our Host talked about the story in one of his daily devotionals.
Costa Rica
– One of the contacts we made in Costa Rica doing Unsung Heroes was a pastor at Mayagues. The topic of his first sermon…the prodigal son.
Nicaragua
– Was part of a bible study I led for Manistry.
Honduras
– Heard it in a sermon by Rick Warren.
– Flipped straight to it in an Action Bible I looked at in a bookstore.
– Heard it in a men’s bible study podcast.
– Read it in Francis Chan’s book “Forgotten God.”
El Salvador
– While working on this blog I took a break and read about the prodigal son in my daily prayer devotion.
– Newest podcast from the Men’s Bible Study that I follow is…Guess what?!? The Prodigal Son.
At this point I discovered that I was the common denominator here. Obviously, I am the prodigal son. Now, what am I supposed to learn? Well….I actually finally figured that out while reading “Forgotten God” written by Francis Chan.
Francis shared a personal struggle of his in the book that I completely resonated with. He describes how throughout his life he used to isolate himself from the Lord after sinning. Like Adam and Eve he went behind the bushes, he chose to distance himself from the Lord because of all of the shame he felt.
“This was a regular pattern for me. I wanted to prove that I was sorry for what I did by being faithful for a period of time. I wanted to develop a good track record before pursuing my relationship with Him again. I wanted God to see that I could be a good servant. Then I felt good enough to talk with God again. But God didn’t want a good slave who tried really hard. He wanted me to see that He was a good Father. He wants intimacy. It takes faith to believe God is truly like the prodigal son’s father, who from afar “saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). Lest there be any doubt, the father made it absolutely clear that his son was to be forgiven, with no questions asked. He invited his son back into his life without bitterness or requiring penance and guilt.” – Francis Chan, Forgotten God.
Throughout my life amidst the pits of deep sin at times, I would distance myself from the Lord thinking that I didn’t deserve to be in His presence. Fourteen instances of the Prodigal Son later and I finally realized that I am the prodigal son. And I have enough faith to believe that even after my I sin, the Lord will open his arms and run towards me as I boldly run back toward him.
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), and “nothing will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:39).
