LESSONS FROM THE PRODIGAL SON – A FOOL’S HEART

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, brings out the fallenness of the human heart so clearly. The second son, wants what he has not earned, and squanders upon the pleasures and the sin, that this world offers. They at no point of time can fill the void, nor satisfy the longings of a human heart. Surely, he has a FOOL’S HEART…
– “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.” – Luke 15:11-13

The elder son is no good, even though he does not squander the wealth of his father on the things of the world – Luke 15:25-31. He is just as sinful as the younger son, except that, one is clearly visible, the other is not. The elder son too has a “FOOL’S HEART”….
– *”28 “But he [the elder son] was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’” – Luke 15:28-30

George Whitefield (1714-1770) expounds such a heart so well…
– “There are many who go on in a round of religious duties, who think that they will go to Heaven when they die. But if you examine them, though they have a Christ in their heads – they have no Christ in their hearts.”
Many in the Church would fall into such a category… self-righteous…who think they are good enough on their own. Their good or “righteousness” is drawn in comparison with those, who are more openly sinful. Sadly, what we all miss is, what the Word of God says…
– “22…For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” – Romans 3:22b-23

The question for us this morning is, “Into which category do we fall?” “The younger son, or the elder son?” *Both are sinful, and just as lost. Such attitudes, the ones displayed by both the sons, are a reflection of the fallenness, and our true character.* Such traits go away, only when we surrender our hearts, and our lives, to the LORD, on everyday basis, as the “Living Sacrifices” to our God…
– “​1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Romans 12:1-2
Even so the LORD help us.