When We choose Chaos

by Dr. J.C. House
07/10/2023

Suggested Reading: Luke 15:11-24

The story of the prodigal son is possibly one of the best-known stories of a person straying away from God and right. Backslidden Christians need to rehearse the lessons again. And for those who have never been saved, you can see what lies ahead in this life for you.

LIFE IS MADE UP OF CHOICES.
Pay careful attention right up front. WE STRAY FROM GOD BECAUSE WE CHOOSE TO DO SO. Luke 15:11-12, “And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.” In Luke 15, we read about three lost things. The coin did not choose to stray, the sheep wandered off, but the son chose to leave his father. People today make many excuses for straying from God, but in the final analysis, one chooses to stray from God.

CHOICES BRING CONSEQUENCES.
A wrecked life is the result of choosing to stray from God. Luke 15:13-16, “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”
Note the gradual decline in the prodigal’s life. He wanted to get as much distance as he could between him and his father.
1. He went to a faraway country.
2. He wasted his substance.
3. He began to be in want.
4. He is now feeding hogs.
5. He would have eaten what the hogs were eating but no man gave unto him. He has hit rock bottom.

CONSEQUENCES REVEAL THE TRUE SELF.
Luke 15:17, ”And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”
1. He saw himself as he really was.
2. He saw his father as his only source of help.
3. He chose to go home.

THE WELCOME MAT IS ALWAYS OUT AT THE FATHER’S HOUSE.
The son had gone into “a far country,” but the father saw the son returning “when he was yet a great way off,” (vs. 20). The rags of misery that the prodigal wore would have caused most to say, he is a hopeless case, and yet it drew the father’s love and mercy. God can take the wrecked, ruined, burnt-out, and spoiled life and remake it into something beautiful.
The prodigal had his three-point speech all ready to give:
1. “I have sinned….” (vs. 21).
2. “I am no longer worthy to be called thy son….” (vs. 21).
3. “make me as one of thy hired servants.” (vs. 19). The Father interrupted with FORGIVENESS (vs. 22-24)!

If you are straying today, your Father is waiting with forgiveness for you. It’s just a matter of choice.

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