Luke 15:11-24..........................11 Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." ' 20 And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry. NKJV
Have you ever had God speak to you about a passage that seemed to take all night? Although I remember sleeping and having a dream, I could still hear Him speak about "Give Me, Make Me".
In the passage of scripture above we see the walk of a young man from being in plenty to being in want. He had been given money to spend. He gathered all that he had, took a trip to "never land" and wasted his possessions.
It says that he lived with prodigal living......!
Prodigal: to strew about ( to scatter, to disperse) spendthrift, wasteful, driving away, one who squanders away money or something of value.
Famine hit the land and the young man joined himself to a citizen of that country. "Joined himself"......another interesting play on words.
To join: to be in union with another, to participate with, to bring together for a purpose as to unite against something or someone
Exploring a foreign land is one thing, but to go to a foreign land to spend all you have and that which you value on things that bring no life is not a good thing! What is the saying, "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. " Unknown author. This young man went to a foreign land to spend all that he had on something he evidently thought would be fun to do. Then when the famine came, he fell further into the pit of a mess and ended up in spending time feeding swine! To me, it appears that he hit a real low place, and the lowest of the low to be dwelling in and to feed swine. But it certainly was this young man's life for awhile. Have you been in school and there was a Future Farmer's of America class for high school age boys? Was it one where they kept their hogs for market? It was those who raised them as their project for class and a grade!
Well, one our F.F.A. students had his hogs close to our cafeteria. Yes, you guessed it! If the wind blew from that direction, the smell was horrendous. So, I can imagine what this young man came to in dwelling with the hogs!
We can make our plans but somehow, there is always something going on that will affect what we are planning, either with other people, with other things and of course, with other nations or countries that we might be scheduling to see and visit. If we decide to take some time in lifting weights and gain some body strength, when do we go TO THE PLACE of just maintaining it? Or do we desire to move into folly and let the body building become more than what we need or should have?
What about playing in a band? Do we practice to bring glory to God or is to flaunt "my expertise and ability in one instrument" ?
Do we decide to take off a couple years from church to gather at the bar to minister to someone, when in reality we find ourselves moving into Folly Land?
James 4:13-17..............13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. ..NIV
1 Corinthians 15:33-34............33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. NKJV
Evil company begets more evil.
For some do not have the knowledge of God! But we are to awake to righteousness!
Isaiah 52:1-3.....Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Shall no longer come to you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
Sit down, O Jerusalem!
Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says the LORD:
"You have sold yourselves for nothing,
And you shall be redeemed without money." NKJV
Like the young man, he gave into that which was for nothing. The fun, merriment, wine, women and song soon left when his money was all gone! He was the famished, the desolate in a land of famine. But we are to be the church, Zion, the believer in Jesus and in whom we are to put our trust and gain His strength. We do that in God's Word. We put on those royal beautiful garments and shake ourselves from the dust. We shake off the dust, and come to sit at the table set for us.
I think of the oil embargo back in the early 70's. Some cities were not hit as hard as others, but it looked something like this. Living in a large city, you had to be up by 3 am to get to gas station by 4 am , and wait in line to get gas before the pumps ran out of said gas. Yes, we had that lifestyle for a count of several months, and it was always best to get to the gas station as quick and as early as one could, so that you might be first or second in line, because if you were later, that would put you late for work at 7 am.Or, you had no gas and had to wait till the next delivery of gas in how many days?
Then while the gas thing was going on, yes, there was the union of the meat cutters who were striking, AND THEN, there was no milk (yes, even the dairymen had a problem as well). So we encountered a lot to get what we needed at the stores for the little one who should have plenty of food and milk. I remember that at least one whole year, our lives seemed chaotic!
Do you know what it is like to cross the picket line when there are "big men" picketing that store and many other thousands of like men picketing stores around the state and country?
Just like then famine can start in one place to spread to other areas as well, so do other things like water shortages, shortages on food supplies and sometimes even gas!
Are we squandering that which we should keep back? That mentality of "give me" is "I want all that is mine and I want it now". That "me" thing gets a lot of us into trouble at times. It also comes under the heading of "SIN"!
When being married, that union is of more than one person and can quickly add up to 5 or more people in said union. FAMILY! And being in a family, causes us to think about others more than ourselves or it should, although sometimes we do not see that actually happening in some lives, especially in young children and teens.
NOW, don't get me wrong here, we can certainly take a couple of weeks off and enjoy some time abroad. We can take a day or two here or there to take care of something at home or at a Dr.'s office, but are we taking the "me" time to a whole new level? Well, Shelley, I have worked here for 20 years and I am getting almost 3 weeks off this year, but when I get to 25 years of service to this company I will gain 5 weeks off. Sounds good right, sounds like you have worked and worked and worked to get where you are today, but what if God desires you to be somewhere else doing something new?
And that work, is it just for you....or is it for your entire family? Is it I want more money to buy more things, or I am saving for our kid's college coming in ten years.
God does not mind us having things or enjoying life, BUT DO THOSE THINGS HAVE US?
This young man squandered all that he had. He joined himself to another when the famine came. He fed the swine and then he started to come to his senses. Looking at verse 17......And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." ' 20 And he arose and came to his father.
He came to himself, he became aware he was more than a swine feeder, and he was still starving! (At least the swine were eating!) He decided to leave the "folly" behind.
Proverbs 14:24..............24 The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is folly. NKJV
His going away from what he knew and moving far from that which was good, made him the fool!
It appears that when one is foolish, more foolishness crowns him with more folly!
Proverbs 16:22....22 Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it.
But the correction of fools is folly. NKJV
He saw that in his leaving home for a foreign country brought him to lose his wealth and anything of value. He went through a famine in the land to end up with the swine and yet the swine were eating pods but at least they were eating. He was not being given anything to eat!. He certainly came to place of correction.
But being in "folly" will bring one to be crowned with more "folly" like we see with the young man.
In verse 18 he states that he will rise out of this "bad" place............that low place of defeat, of lack, .........a place called sin...........and repent. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And he went to the Father!
Wow! When one hits the bottom, they are willing to be called the servant and be one to come back to the home of grace and love!
Remember from Isaiah......chapter 52 and verse 3.....
Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says the LORD:
"You have sold yourselves for nothing,
And you shall be redeemed without money."
In reading of the son, we certainly saw him desiring to loose himself from the bonds of his neck........and seeing nothing, in famine, the desolate had nothing, he returned to be redeemed without money. He came to the love of the Father!
We find another man being called folly....and Nabal was his name.
1 Samuel 25:25-31............................25 Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant." NKJV
Nabal was different. He liked being the landowner, and foolish. She, Abigail,knew his character as one who was very rude and what some call as "behaving churlishly". As she had heard of the bad thing her husband had done toward David through a servant, she was pleading her own ignorance to the whole matter or event. When Abigail went to meet David, she knew that he would be on his way to fight against Nabal for speaking to his men as he did and would make NO EFFORT to gather food for David's men. Even though David and his men had kept Nabal's flocks secure from those who would steal in the country as they did, Nabal showed no grace to them. He acted like he had never heard of David!
But Abigail in her defense takes food for David and his men. She desires them to be given what they asked for from her husband, but who was not willing to give. She speaks that David's enemies would be as Nabal, her husband.
meaning of Nabal: dote, senseless, vile, stupid, and wicked
Abigail went on to speak prophetically that David would know that the Lord fights the battles and evil would not be found in him throughout his days. She even speaks of Saul, but does not speak his name out loud. She says, "your life (David) will be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God". ...."the lives of your enemies he shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling".
Did God not do that to "Goliath"? Did God not show David what he needed to do in the wilderness and could ultimately perform anywhere else? She went on to prophesy......"And it shall come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant."
Meaning that David would come out good on this "bad deal". It would bring no grief to David, who kept his watch over his men and over the flocks of Nabal, who proved vile.
She finished with, may you remember your maidservant. Remember Abigail who stopped the vile Nabal from ruining another's life by being the good wife. Remember Abigail who thought of the needs for others when it was within her hand to give it! Remember Abigail who came and reminded you that this would bring no grief to you in later years!
Yes, we have two men, who had a mentality of being the "fool". But Nabal became the vile and the wicked. In being foolish, the fool became the stupid and the senseless in his dealing with people!
The young man went back to the Father and confessed his sins before him. He had a change of heart! Our Father will meet us when we have gone too far in the wrong direction. We remain out of His goodness, if we continue to choose for "me, myself and I"..............or "GIVE ME, GIVE ME, GIVE ME.........!
Proverb 23:26-28............26 My son, give me your heart,
And let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep pit,
And a seductress is a narrow well.
28 She also lies in wait as for a victim,
And increases the unfaithful among men. NKJV
Again, as we saw the young man, who was seduced by wealth. He wanted money and to leave what he knew to experience "the world" during a time of famine. Although he did not plan on famine, it can certainly happened even when there is abundance of food, abundance of commercial items, and much produce to be transported. Like what we experienced in Colorado in the 70's, people wanting more, caused others to be without a supply of meat, milk, or gas.
It was like the Portland longshoremen going on strike. And anybody who watched that or had packages to be sent out, knew those packages were not going to make it to their destination in record time. No, those packages might have gotten loaded into one big container, but they sat on dock till they could be loaded. Well, months started going by and by that February Hanjin was leaving the Port of Portland. And others went as well. Then Hapag-Lloyd that distributes to Europe was gone as well. These two supplied about ninety percent of the business to the port. Sad but true, this occurred this year.
Proverbs 30:15..................15 "The leech has two daughters.
'Give! Give!' they cry. NIV
More, more, more, give me more!
Greed is always ugly....if the leech is crying........greed...."Give, Give".........will not it intensify with two young ones doing the same thing?
In the case of the young man, who had a change of heart, going home was by repenting. His brother who had remained had some grievance against him. Though the young man came back and the Father ran to meet him, and placed on him the royal robe and ring, the other son, the brother had grief. He was the brother who remained in the same place, chose not to spend, and yet had everything still at hand, but grieved! (Luke 16: 25-32)
The brother who remained in the home was envious of someone, a brother, who came out of a "pit"!
In closing: Our hearts must observe God's ways. It will surely keep us out of the pit and away from that which can cry out........that it is good, but it is in the end......that which is bitter.....to us.......to our souls, minds and spirit.
James 3:13-18...........13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. NKJV
Two men, seeking their own thing, their own way. One got into famine ........lack, much folly and came to his senses. The other continued his ways..MORE FOOLISHNESS........and died.
1 Samuel 25:36-38..........36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37 So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it came about, after about ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. NKJV
We have opportunities like Nabal did to honor the anointed king who was coming soon to his position like Abigail did. But Nabal the fool pretended to not know him at all. But yet when we look back at previous scriptures we find he even knew David's father's name and mentioned Jesse. This Nabal threw himself a party........a feast........and drank till drunk with wine. But Abigail told him what she had done. And then Nabal's heart died within him.
Today we choose either serving self or serving God! Today we choose life or death. Will greed take us places where we meet with the untimely misfortune of death or disease? Will greed take us to those places where we rule and will not allow God any access to show us what is coming our way that MAY BE A BIG PROBLEM. for us LIKE FAMINE? Will we waste our health and wealth on that which does not bring life to us or adds anything good to us?
Father, thank You today for Jesus, the Son of Your love who died to give us life abundantly. Father, we know that covetousness or greed is idolatry.
Today, we choose to guard our hearts and we need You to show us the way. Show us by Your Holy Spirit that which is not fruitful for our benefit in our walk with You. Show us where our hearts may crave or want something that will be detrimental to us. Father You sent the best You had for us. We desire to give back to You our love and thankfulness for delivering us from death, hell and the grave. We know that chasing after other things, or people as in musical groups or sports may lead us down a path we do not want to go down. As according to Romans 1:25....we do not desire to exchange the truth of God for the lie...........and do not want to worship and serve any creature rather than YOU our Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Help us to see what we must recognize as that which brings death and not life to us. Help us to know when we start to venture too far off the right track with YOU.
We give thanks for Jesus, and we thank You for hearing our plea. We do not desire to be time wasters as we see the Day of Approaching of YOUR return.
The Word will not return void, but will accomplish where it is sent. Today, we desire to totally lean on You and learn Your wisdom, drawing on YOUR strength and filled with Your quietness. It is in Jesus' name we pray!
May we bless YOU and
bring beautiful music, a lovely sound to YOUR hearing Father. Amen and amen
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