I was
thinking about the parable of the prodigal son today. I had a different
perspective on that story in high school. You see, I saw myself as the good kid. I got good grades, went to church,
didn’t sneak out in the middle of the night. Not that I was perfect, but darned
close in my estimation. So when we studied the parable of the prodigal son in
seminary, I have to admit I sided with the good kid who stuck around. The
wayward son takes off, blows all his money, and comes back in dire straits; and
I, along with the more obedient son, couldn’t help but wonder why dad was
killing the fatted calf. The good son asks his father, “Lo, these many years do
I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou
never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends,” and I’m
thinking, “Yeah! What gives?!”
It
reminded me of a time when report cards came home. Mom was happy with my
brother’s “B” and “C” grades; I was all “A’s” with the exception of one class
and Mom asked me what was going on with that “B.” WHAT?! Over time, the story
taught me to appreciate the higher standard set for me in academia. Maybe not
the best parallel, but it was what I learned at the teenage time.
But time
and maturity (I hope) have taught me that I’m not the good kid in that story,
at least not from every angle. Not even from most angles. I’m the prodigal. We
all are in a way. The story is about repentance and what speaks to me is the
father’s love and immediate willingness to accept the prodigal back into his
home – symbolic of how eager our Father in Heaven is to have us back and how
our return is worthy of killing the fatted calf. It merits a big party with the
whole house in attendance.
I picture
the father running towards the
prodigal when he sees him and think our Father must do that too. When we make
that first move toward repentance, or the initial thrust towards new conviction
to change, He must see us “yet a great way off,” and come running. We’re not
even to the door yet and he comes out to put his arms around us and take us the
rest of the way in.
