11 And He said, "A certain man had two sons;
12 and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' And he divided his wealth between them.
13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant county, and there he squandered his estate with loose living."
In the story of the prodigal son we find a young man who decides he wants to "do his own thing", be his own boss, live his life apart from his loving father.
A man by the name of Kenneth Bailey, a Presbyterian researcher and lecturer in the Middle East, for over 40 years has asked people from Morocco to India and from Turkey to Sudan about the implications of a son requesting his inheritance while his Fat
her was still living. The answer has been the same; his informal survey has gone
something like this:
"Has anyone ever made such a request in your village?"
"Never."
"Could anyone ever make such a request?"
"Impossible!"
"If anyone did, what would happen?"
"His father would beat him, of course!"
"Why?"
"The requests means that he wants his father dead."
Normally after signing over his possessions to his son, the father still is entitled to live of the proceeds because the younger son in this parable demands and gets full use of the inheritance before the father's death. the implication is as though the boy said, "Father, I would rather you were dead." The Father could have shamed his son, beat him, physically restrained him from leaving. But, very matter of fact the father divided his property and gave it to the son.
Isn't this how we treat God? We demand what we think is owed us and then we proceed to go our own way. In our own self-centered way we communicate the message,
"Father, I would rather you were dead." But in this beautiful parable we see a God Moment - a moment of Holy Attraction. That is exactly what the prodigal son had when he found himself in the pigpen.
Luke 15:17 says, "But when he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!' He had a God Moment of Holy Attraction.
Every time you have avoided the trap of sin...every incidence in which you opted for high moral standards...every decision for purity...every lovely thought... is a God Moment of Holy Attraction. To discover moments of Holy Attraction you will need to take a look at those moments in which you resisted God's way the most. Those imps when you totally rebelled against your loving Father. The only way the prodigal son found his way home was because of an irresistible attraction to home!
How do you uncover your moments of Holy Attraction? Those times when you also 'came to your senses'. Are you being attracted to HOME today? Why not come home to the Father?
_______________Today's personal note from Dennis
Greetings from Quartzsite, AZ,
Sandy and I have had a great week in Quartzsite. We have experienced wonderful fellowship from fellow Campers On Missions folks. We have shared in terrific music and preaching services. We have eaten wonderful food from the great servants at Quartzsite Southern Baptist Church. It has been good to see friends from the past.
I discovered there is no Starbucks within 20 miles so I located another coffee shop. Sandy and I both taught Bible Studies during the week. It was a blessing to share God's Word with such receptive folks. Sandy found time to do some shopping for ROCKS. WOW!!
Each day we spend time in the booths passing out bottles of water and sharing the good news of Christ with anyone who will listen. We also invited the people we met to the revival at night. Many of them came and heard the story of Jesus again.
Sandy and I will be going back to Tempe on Friday morning after Sandy teaches the Bible lesson. As always we are eager to get back home. We both enjoy staying in our camper trailer but there is nothing like our own bed in our own home.
Sandy will be back teaching at her Tuesday morning class at First Baptist Church next Tuesday. I will be speaking to a Men's Breakfast at Grace Community Church on Saturday February 4th at 8:30 AM.
God continues to bless our lives and our ministry. We request you continue to pray for us. Your prayers and encouragement keeps us going. Thanks so much.
I have an appointment with the oncologist on February 20th. Before that date I will have labs taken and a CT Scan. Pray for good results.
Pray for our upcoming ministry opportunities. Sandy's Bible Study, Men's Breakfast, Possible mission trip to Uganda and South Sudan, and revival in Lebanon, MO. Thanks. You are a vital part of our lives and our ministry.
You are greatly appreciated. ~ DGW
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