Parable of the Prodigal Son

micandermc

 March 17, 2026

Today’s devotion was written by our sister Doris.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most famous of all Christ’s teachings, and it provides a neglected lesson that remains relevant for us today.

It is the story of a Father who had two sons. One of the sons was loving and obedient and always did what his father wanted him to do. The other son on the other hand, was quite the opposite. As we read the story, we can’t help but be captured by the story of a father’s love for his wayward son. Before we continue please read story in Luke 15:11-32.

Prodigal definition

“Prodigal” means being wastefully extravagant. In this story the man’s son recklessly and wastefully spends his inheritance. In the context of this parable, the prodigal son has also come to mean someone who is spiritually lost and someone who has returned after an absence.

Now I have been reading and hearing this story hundreds of times in Sunday School as a kid, and throughout my adult life, and the lesson that was always clear was that of a Father’s love for their child. It is the lesson that no matter what a child may do, the Father will always forgive them and take them back. That indeed is the lesson that many of us get from this parable. It reminds us of God’s unwavering nature of love towards us, and that no matter what we do, he will always take us back home and forgive us.

And while we are all sinners, as was the prodigal son, it is heartwarming, comforting and, yes, almost incomprehensible that God the Father is willing to accept us back, given the mistakes we have made. (And boy have we made some serious mistakes!). As we turn away from God and choose to live as we please,

But now let’s consider what isn’t commonly perceived about this story and what this knowledge should motivate us to do.

What isn’t commonly understood from this parable? God wants us to repent.

Repentance is the cornerstone of God’s will for us. The prodigal son, after wasting his entire inheritance and started living in squalor, started to remember his home, and his father. He went through 3 stages:

Remorse: – for what he had done. He realized he was wrong for walking away from his father and living a wreckless life (as all of us do or have done at some point in our lives).
Contrition: – He didn’t want to live that way anymore, and decided to go back home and ask his father for forgiveness. He realized he was better off at home with the servants than to continue living the life of shame that he was reduced to.
Repentance:- He went back home and asked his father to forgive him. He didn’t want to sin anymore.

This is what God wants from us. He wants us to turn away from our lives of sin and return back to him. The story tells us that the Father was waiting expectantly for his son to return home, and when he saw him from a distance, he ran after him, kissed and hugged him. He was so happy to see his son.

Like this father, God is waiting expectantly for us to return home. Whatever we may have done, whatever sin we may carry, is irrelevant to him. He wants us to return back to his loving arms. When one of God’s children return, there is rejoicing and celebration in heaven, because a child has come back home. So the lesson that is missed from this passage is that of REPENTANCE.

God loves you and is waiting with open arms for you to return.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I come to you today and ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I do not want to sin anymore, I want to come back home. I accept you as my Lord and savior, come into my life and make me whole again. Amen.

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Mike & Brenda

3 Comments

Shadia on March 20, 2021 at 10:04

Amen, thank you Doris.
Pamela on March 20, 2021 at 23:43

Amen Amen Amen

Just like any relationship of parent and child we also have the responsibility to our Heavenly Father a Father that hurts when hurt ,laughs when we laugh, a Father who only wants us to experience contentment that cannot be obtained from worldy things..God help us for as long as we live on earth to lean on him always
Arnaud on March 21, 2021 at 16:34

Amen Amen PS Doris. God bless you abundantly