Whether we are frequent students of God’s word or have barely opened the Bible, most of us have heard the term “Prodigal Son.” Jesus’s story of the Prodigal, or what some call Lost Son, is one of His most famous narratives from Scripture. If you are like me, you may have focused primarily on the son as you’ve read this tale. After all, he is the one referenced in the title, and there certainly are some lessons to learn from his choices. Yet, as I have reviewed this familiar passage more closely, I am inclined to believe that this story’s power comes not so much from the actions of the son as it does from the heart of his host, the Father.
Now, why do I call the Father a “host,” and why is this son a dinner guest? We find the answer when we read the whole story in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15, verses 11 through 32. To briefly review, a young son goes to his father and demands that he give him his inheritance immediately, basically saying, “I want your things more than I want a relationship with you, Dad.” The father concedes, and the son runs away to a far-off place, where he squanders all of his inheritance on loose living. In desperation, the now impoverished son finds employment feeding pigs, but even the swine end up eating better than him. So, he decides to return home to his father’s house, not as the man’s son, but as his servant. He not only believes he’s forfeited his position as a son, but he believes his father has every right to disown him. Rejecting his son, however, was the last thing on the father’s mind.
Luke 15:20b tells us, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” And despite the son’s declaration that he was unworthy to be his son, the father chose a different response. He threw a dinner party.
“‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:22)
Most of us will read this story and find great comfort in it. We will see that the son made a huge mistake, one that could have cost him his life, yet the father welcomed him back. That is so encouraging! But I am finding an even deeper truth in this storyline. I am seeing something about God our Father that not only can affect our lives, but also our everyday living. Because, here’s the thing: CLet me explain.
The story of the Prodigal Son might seem unrelatable to you right now. Maybe like the other son in this tale, you’ve never majorly wandered from the Father. You’ve identified closely with Him and served Him as far back as you can remember. Or, maybe you recall a time when you were far off from God, only to turn back to Him in desperation and were welcomed home with His loving embrace. You had that one, major prodigal moment, but for the most part you have walked closely with Him since. Here’s what I’d like us to see. Maybe “prodigalism” doesn’t just occur in grand, dramatic movements. Maybe it can look more like wanderings, those moments in our lives when we go our own way or live by the desires of our flesh.
Wanderings can be times we choose to snap back at someone who hurts us because, “Doggone it, they pushed me to my last nerve.” Maybe a wandering happens in moments when we sense the Holy Spirit saying, “Share My Good News,” but we freeze because we feel ill-equipped to speak or we fear the person’s rejection. Perhaps we wander “ahead” of God, making decisions or taking actions before we really sense God’s direction, because waiting on Him has become too difficult. In each of these scenarios, like Frank Sinatra, we did it “my way,” rather than trusting in God’s higher way. And when we’ve realized the better way of God, in what posture do we return? Do we run back to the safety of our Father, knowing He loves us and sees us as His child and is celebrating our return? Or, like the Prodigal Son, do we head back home believing we are mere servants to a Holy, Fearsome God whose love we no longer deserve?
The truth is that the moment our Father sees us pivot back toward Him, He runs to us! He embraces us in His love and welcomes us home, even to the point of celebration. Pastor Jonathan Pokluda describes it like this:
God knows how to celebrate. The biggest metaphor throughout the Scripture for heaven is a celebration, a feast, a wedding banquet. God knows how to party. The Father is like, ‘Let’s party. In a way that won’t cost us tomorrow, let’s party. How does the Father respond to our repentance? . . . God celebrates repentance.”
And why does God celebrate repentance? Because, as Pokluda also states, “Repentance is the path that leads you back to relationship.” And that’s what God wants most. As Jesus is quoted saying in John 15:5, “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When a man abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.”
Friend, our Father doesn’t look away from us when we sin. He runs to us! His mourning is never about what we’ve done to Him, but about what we are doing to ourselves when we refuse to trust Him. To trust His ways. He is “LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). When you catch yourself wandering, run back into His loving arms, friend, and trust His all-knowing way.
— Linda R. Maynard for The Sublime Soiree © July 2025
