This story makes me think of our walk with the Lord or our journey to know Him. Everyone is loved because God is love and God has made it clear that He is slow to return so no one misses out. But what is incredible about this is Jesus is showing us that our focus should be on Him and our reward is in heaven not here. We can’t get caught up in expecting anything now we must just remember what Jesus did and seek doing the same. It doesn’t matter if we have been saved for our entire lives or one month, the celebration is that we are saved. As believers we can’t get upset by what happens to people we can only continue to learn how to be like Christ and shine so people can see the light.
Verse 27 says, “Your brother is back, he was told, and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.” There should be excitement but the brother feels anger because he has been there working and his brother was living it up. Verses 28-30 say, “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf.” The brother gets his focus off of God and on self and he becomes selfish to what he thinks he desires.
We can easily get caught up in the same things. We expect rewards for what we do, but God has already rewarded us for eternity. When we take the time and build a relationship with the Lord we have a chance to become less like us and more like Him and our focus becomes only to do what we learn from God. It doesn’t matter what service we do or how hard we work, it’s that we view others before ourselves and work to show them Christian living. As we accept Jesus we are given this statement in John chapter 16 verse 33 by Jesus Himself. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Our joy is in Christ and our reward is in heaven. I love what the dad says in verse 32, “We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and he has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!” Our reward is yet to come but we can enjoy this world because we know the Lord and are trying to be like Him. Amen