Prodigal Ones

Sunday 29th October
READ: Luke 15:11-23 
MORE LESSONS: I Sam 2:12-17, 22-25

A man had two children and the younger one demanded for his part of  the inheritance from the father. The son was, more or less, telling the father that if he was not ready to die, he should at least give him (the son) his share of inheritance. The father let the son have his way because he realized that nothing could dissuade him from the path he was bent on taking. The only thing that can make some people to repent of their adamant choices is the repercussion of their wrong direction. It is right to continue to pray for them while you allow them to face the consequence of their willful wrong decision.

The prodigal son, who had been raised by a righteous father went parting and carousing with strange women until he was reduced to nothing. It was while living with pigs in a pen and scrambling with them for food that he realized that all his father has been telling him was right. He repented and came home. The father sighted him from afar on his return journey, which shows that the father was daily looking across the road, expecting and praying for the son to come back home.

Eli, the priest of God, also had two children - Hophni and Phinehas. They ministered with him in the temple but deliberately chose the way of destruction. They defiled God’s offerings and the women in the temple. They obstinately rebelled against the law of God and refused their father’s correction. Eventually the father gave up on them and left them for destruction.

When God told Samuel the judgment that would fall on Eli’s family, Eli replied, ‘He is God, let him do whatever he pleases’
(I Sam. 3:18). If Eli knew the anguish that awaited him, he would have cried to the Lord for mercy and raise his children with a strong hand to get them back to the Lord in repentance.

There are times you allow prodigal ones have their way because when the repercussion comes, it will come on everybody. When the judgment of the Lord came on Eli’s family, his children were destroyed and Israel lost a battle where more than 4,000 men died. Eli broke his neck and died. His daughter-in-law heard the sad news and had induced birth-pangs which resulted in her death. After giving birth to a son-who she named Ichabod because the glory of the Lord departed from the whole land of Israel and the ark of the covenant was ceased by the enemy. All these happened in one day.

There is mercy for prodigal children but the choice is theirs whether they will end up restored like the younger son or they will be destroyed like Eli’s children. You will not suffer destruction, in Jesus name. Just like the father of the prodigal son, God is still waiting and hoping that every lost child will return because He is willing to take them back.

Prayer/Action
• Ask God to restore those who have left the faith and turned to the world
• Ask God not to allow you go your own way but guide you in His will by His mercy.
• Pray that you will not be lost forever.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
King Saul made a mistake that destroyed his throne, Esau made a mistake that took away his father’s blessing, I shall escape every moment of error and mistake, in the name of Jesus.