In with the pigs

I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you…”Luke 15:18

The story is too contemporary: a man leaves home to taste all the world has to offer him. Far away from his roots, he discovers that alcohol robs, prostitutes kill and drugs destroy.

Don’t be smug if you haven’t followed his path. You and I, we know the enemy just like he does. Galatians 5:15 gives us a checklist for our lives. Didn’t fornicate today. Check. Impure thoughts? Maybe just one fluttered by. Jealousy? Arguments? Gossip? Unforgiveness?

You and I, we know all too well what robs and kills and destroys. Sometimes we climb right in the pigpen and enjoy the vengeance. Sometimes we defend our harsh words.

But sometimes we get sick of smelling the pigs and eating their slop. That’s the hope of Luke 15. We can come home. The young man had taken half his father’s wealth and wasted it. But one day he saw in a new way. He changed his mind.

What he did next is important: he left the pigpen.

He didn’t invite his father to bring money to the pigpen. He didn’t invite his father into the pigpen with him. He left.

You and I, sometimes we want to cling to the path we chose, even when we smell like the pigs. We want to add in a little spirituality, a little heaven insurance.

Notice the father’s response: let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' Luke 15:23-24

The young man left home to have a party and came home to a greater party. This was where the celebration truly began. But he had to leave the pigpen to find that out.