“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry” (Luke 15:24).
TEXT — Luke 15:11-14
Message
In the Jewish culture, dining with someone signified a pact, friendship or covenant relationship. An instance was when Jacob and Laban ate together on a heap of stones to represent a covenant between them (Genesis 31:46). Joshua and the elders of Israel also ate the food of the Gibeonites to signify a pact with them.
Today’s text, on the parable of the prodigal son, is best understood if we recall its background and context. The publicans and sinners flocked to Jesus to hear Him, but the Pharisees and scribes grumbled that He received sinners and ate with them (Luke 11:1,2). In response, Jesus used three illustrations – the lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7), the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), and the lost son (Luke 15:11- 24) – to explain that His mission was to recover the lost sinner. Jesus came to seek and save those lost in the sin of indulgence and excesses, such as the publicans and sinners whom the younger son illustrated.
As we approach the end of the year, we should take stock of our lives and ensure that we guard against the mindset of the prodigal son whose relationship to his father was purely transactional, that is, based on material gain. He did not value his father’s fellowship and loving care; neither was he interested in supporting the family business. All he wanted was his inheritance even while the father was still alive.
Like Christ, we should be interested in the Father’s business of saving the lost at all costs. We must also avoid coming into spiritual poverty by dining with sinners in a life of indulgence. People who do that risk losing their spiritual inheritance if they prefer the company of sinners to fellowship with God.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
I thank God for the word of life
Noted text of today states Luke 15:11-14 whilst the audio recording is Luke 15:11-24. Thanks