When reflecting on the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. It's interesting to note that the two brother - the younger and the older are similar in some ways. Even though one leaves home and the others stays, they are similar in their thinking.
Both boys were focused on their performance or lack thereof. The passage doesn’t reveal the full extent of the younger brother's inner deliberation, but he could well have been thinking:
- "I was selfish";
- "I wasted Dad’s money in wild living..."
- "I failed at being a son"
Looking at his performance, he deduces: "I am not worthy to be your son…make me a servant/slave".
His performance determined his worth in his own eyes: "I’m a servant/I’m a slave"
The older brother pulls out his resume of past performance. 29 … ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.
It's interesting that he uses the word "slaving". Could it be that all this time he had seen himself as a slave of the house rather than a son of the house.
The issue was they were both focused on their performance, rather than on their identity.
What they did rather than who and whose they were.
At the end of the day, it didn’t matter what they had done or not done, they both had the same status in the eyes of the Father. They were both Daddy's boys!
The sad thing is this, even though they were Daddy’s sons, they saw themselves as Daddy’s slaves. Each was a son, with a slave mentality!
Elsewhere, I may write about what this looks like and how it hinders one, but for now, may this be a nugget of encouragement for you, Dear Friend:
Remember, Dear Child of God, you are a son/daughter and not a slave.
You are the recipient of God’s amazing and lavish grace! We pray that you may stand firm in that grace today.
PRAYER
Help me Father to remember I'm yours,
No longer enslaved to my past;
You have changed me from within,
By your grace and love that will always last
God bless
Wayne and Sam