Do
you believe that a prodigal is someone who forsakes God by recklessly
participating in destructive sinful behaviors with no concerns that it will
ultimately lead them to ruin? I used to
think that a rebellious person was one who abandoned God, their family and the
church to pursue a selfish worldly lifestyle, searching for what they thought
would bring them peace, joy and fulfillment. I then came to the realization there is a form
of rebellion that isn’t quite as blatant as I once had believed, for there are MANY prodigals occupying church pews
every Sunday! Outwardly they may not
appear to be the stereotypical rebel as they carry their Bible, are involved in
various church ministries, and seem to have it all together. The prodigal may
give the outward facade to others around them that they are living a holy, righteous
life. People may be easily fooled because they cannot see the condition of the
prodigal’s rebellious, prideful heart, BUT God certainly does!
I am
extremely familiar with how a prodigal in the pew can go through the outward
motions of the Christian life, but have a wretched inner heart condition. It never dawned on me that I was in rebellion until the Lord used the preaching
of His Word in the Sermon on the Mount to penetrate my cold apathetic heart. A prodigal can graduate from a Bible College,
a prodigal can be a Sunday School teacher, a prodigal can be a pastor or deacon’s
wife, a prodigal can be a homeschooling mom. Prodigals in the pew can try to fool just
about everyone, BUT will never be able to deceive God! A rebellious person is blinded by their
unconfessed sin and justifies their sin because they think it’s not a bad as
someone else’s. Their rebellion and
guilt that comes from harboring unconfessed sin causes their “spiritual eyes”
to be closed and their “spiritual ears” to no longer hear God’s voice. Carelessness and indifference set in and the
desire to have a humble and pure heart before God disappears. Prodigals have NO joy and NO desire for
close fellowship with the God who created them.
They believe the lie that
this life is for US and is solely
for OUR own entertainment and
pleasure. The prodigal proudly proclaims,
“This is MY life and I WANT to live MY life the WAY I want to!” and
isn’t concerned about breaking God’s heart or causing enormous pain and
heartache for those who love them most.Outwardly, for many years, I appeared to be a committed follower of Christ. I went to church, sang in the choir, attended Bible studies, spoke at ladies events, counseled ladies and was involved in many other “God honoring” activities. I believed that as long as I was doing all of those good external things I could hold onto my bitterness, unforgiveness, envy and silent anger. I was SO blinded and deceived by my sin!!! My sin stole my joy and took away any desire to read God’s Word. I seldom made it through a sermon without falling asleep and occasionally didn’t bother bringing my Bible to church either. I was NOT living the abundant life God intended for me and I was certainly NOT fulfilling the purposes that God created me for. I was on the road headed for destruction! I would have continued down that deadly path if I had not finally come to the end of myself and humbly confessed my sin before my Father.
Luke 15:17 describes the account of how the prodigal son “came to the end of himself” and finally humbled himself before God and his earthly father. The key to restoration and finding a peaceful, joyful life is confessing our pride and asking forgiveness for our sin. The prodigal son at last had recognized his need to seek full forgiveness from his sin in Luke 15:21, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.”
Every
prodigal will eventually bow
their knee to God. Whether they willingly make the choice to
humble themselves, or be brought to their knees in brokenness by their Creator
through devastating circumstances. However,
if the prodigal stubbornly chooses to remain in their defiance, God may even
decide to prematurely end their earthly life.
We all have the choice to submit ourselves now, or be humbled by God
later. Romans 14:11 shows us this confirmation, For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE
SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."
How much heartache, pain, and
distress are we willing to inflict on ourselves and our loved ones before we decide
to wake up and realize that we’ve been blinded and deceived by the father of
lies? In John 10:10 we are warned that Satan’s goal for us is to kill, steal
and destroy us. He is crafty and will use whatever it takes to try to bring
about our destruction so we must be on guard to His schemes.
Can you
identify with some of these same rebellious attitudes that I have struggled
with? Have you lost your joy and
excitement in the Lord and no longer hunger and thirst after God’s Word and
righteousness? Are you apathetic or unconcerned
about the needs of others and lack genuine love for people? Have you been so blinded by your pride that
you feel you have no sin to confess?
Maybe you have been more concerned about keeping up a good “outer”
testimony rather than taking care of your “inner” heart condition? Just as in Luke 15 where the father eagerly and faithfully watched for his prodigal son to come home, our Father God has been patiently waiting and watching for us to return from our rebellion with open arms full of compassion. He is ready to embrace us and welcome us back into sweet fellowship with Him. We ALL need to recognize our foolishness and pride, humbly bow down at the foot of the cross and beg for God’s forgiveness from our sin. Just like the prodigal son, we will be restored and there will be a GREAT celebration in heaven! Jesus says to the proud and hypocritical Pharisees in Luke 15:7, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 “righteous” people who need no repentance.” If you’ve been a prodigal in the pew, the time for repentance is now. Please don’t waste one more minute believing the Enemy’s lies that will most assuredly bring you more needless suffering, regret and devastation than you ever bargained for.
