“I stopped to think, came to myself..and came home”
May 16, 2011 (Monday)
Hello, out there in “radio land.” This is station BIBL, broadcasting your latest news from the Biblical world. Today we are interviewing the famous “Prodigal Son,” on the occasion of his return and the biggest “welcome home” bash this part of the Bible world has seen in quite a while. There he is now. Pardon me, son, may I have a word with you? In your own words, please tell us why you decided to come home?
“Well, I stopped to think. Granted, I should have done that a lot sooner, but I didn’t. You see, I just got bored and tired with the whole “wholesome life” scene, and had to split, or so I thought. So I went to a place where nobody knew me with my pockets full of money. I had a lot of friends for a while, until my money ran out. Suddenly, no money and no friends. When I got hungry enough, I took a job feeding hogs. One day in the midst of feeding those animals, I just stopped to think about how far down I had sunk, and wondered what was going to happen to me if I didn’t make some changes.
“I thought about my father’s servants and how they were getting along a lot better than I was. I guess I came to myself, like waking up from a bad dream. I saw my life as it really was, and I decided to ask my father to let me come back as a hired servant.
“I made my way back home, thinking all the while, ‘I don’t think this is going to work out. Why would my father take me back, even as a servant? I’ve been so thankless and I’m not worthy to be called his son.’ After all, I demanded my inheritance while he was still alive and well. I can’t believe I did that. But none of those thoughts kept me from making my way back home.
“Then I arrived at familiar territory. I was getting closer to my father’s house, but still quite a distance away when I saw a lone figure coming down the road to meet me. It was my father. He had actually been looking for me day after day ever since I had left. When he saw me, he recognized me, but I don’t know how he did, for I looked terrible, nothing like I had looked when I left home. He ran toward me, embraced me, and walked back to his house with me. When we got there, he ordered a big feast and a ‘welcome home” party. I never did get to tell him everything that I wanted to, because he kept telling everyone how overjoyed he was that I was back home where I belonged. He said I had been dead and was alive again. He was right. He gave me his love when I didn’t deserve it. I have a great father.”
Thank you, son. To our radio audience, let me say that the prodigal’s experience has been published and is available in most languages to nearly everyone in the world. Get your copy today, and read the prodigal’s story in Luke 15.