As I sat in church this Sunday listening to the message, the words the pastoring was saying hit me like a wave. I am the Prodigal Son's older brother. Many of you probably know the story, but if not, here's a summary and it can also be found in Luke 15:11-32.
The younger son asks his father to give him his portion of the family estate as an early inheritance. Once received, the son promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and begins to waste his fortune on wild living. When the money runs out, a severe famine hits the country and the son finds himself in dire circumstances. He takes a job feeding pigs. Eventually, he grows so destitute that he even longs to eat the food assigned to the pigs.
The young man finally comes to his senses, remembering his father. In humility, he recognizes his foolishness, decides to return to his father and ask for forgiveness and mercy.
The father who had been watching and waiting, receives his son back with open arms of compassion. He is overjoyed by the return of his lost son. Immediately the father turns to his servants and asks them to prepare a giant feast in celebration.
Meanwhile, the older son becomes enraged when he comes in from working the fields and discovers a party with music and dancing being celebrated for his younger brother's return.(http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummari...
As the younger brother comes back the father does not even question what he has done but runs to him relentlessly and brings him back into the family. The older brother throughout this time had not squandered his father's money and had remained morally upright. But yet when his brother comes home he does not greet him with open arms, but harbors resentment in his heart.
Are you a picture of the Prodigal Son's older brother?
Maybe you have played the part of the younger brother and have fleeted from righteous ways and from God, but have found yourself running back to Him. But for those of us who find ourselves playing the role of the older brother in our daily lives... here is what we are doing wrong.
We see people in the worst part of their lives but resist pulling them out so that we can look better.
We have experienced God's grace in our own lives, so why aren't we giving that to others? We not only need to chase grace for our own lives but when we do that we should be chasing grace for other people's lives. We should want to see them changed and renewed with the grace of God.
We find ourselves not wanting others to have the same grace we have received from God because we're stuck in a realm of sin called a "Spiritual Comparison Trap". We see others around us falling and think now that we are ranked better on the scale of spirituality. Or often we compare ourselves to pastors or people we see as "super Christians" and are torn down because they seem to be so much closer to God than we are and that they never struggle. This is a trap that every Christian experiences and when we feel ourselves comparing ourself to others we must recognize that this is a LIE FROM THE ENEMY. I found this lie being constantly spoken by Satan into my life and it wasn't until I began reading Sandra Stanley's "The Comparison Trap" that I really began to distinguish these lies and combat them with truth.
The Prodigal Son's older brother did not like that he was seeing his brother who had done so much wrong to their family, being welcomed back and receiving so much good. He was jealous of the grace he was getting. I constantly found myself being jealous of the transformation into grace that I saw in others lives. I had grown up in a Christian home and put my faith in Jesus a long time ago. I never fell into drugs or alcohol and sought redemption from those like some people. I constantly felt like I didn't have a testimony to share. I once heard Tindell Baldwin speak at my school, and she said "I would kill to have the testimony like that. I wish I never had to go through all the bad stuff to get to the good grace of Jesus and be able to share him with others." From that day on I have looked at my testimony as important and knowing that it can impact someone with a similar walk to mine in some small way in God's grand plan. We need not to be jealous of the grace that others receive but receive that same grace in our own lives and wish for others to experience it too.
The joy in your relationship with Jesus is what fuels your obedience to Jesus.
If we are truly happy and at peace with how God is working in our lives it will fill us with joy and we will want that same joy for others. As Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."
The older brother opted to stand outside of all the festivities that were going on inside because his heart was hardened in this moment. We can stand outside and think we are better than everyone else, but we would miss out on what God is doing inside and miss out on being a part of that. NEVER miss the opportunity to get a chance to be there for what God is doing in someone else's life. We can't just live in spiritual bubble and ask God to work in our own life if we are not willing to pour into others and learn and grow from them as well. We weren't created to be outsiders.
There is not a particular type of person who becomes a Christian. Whether you are feeling like the Prodigal Son or his older brother today, Jesus is there for you and reaching out with his grace... chase it.
