In college, I took a summer internship at Farmers’ Telephone Cooperative over in Sumter, South Carolina. It was a pretty chill job that allowed me to put the title “CS Intern” on my resume under the Job Experience section. Some job recruiters may have later thought the “CS” stood for computer science, rather than what it actually was (which was customer service) but that’s a story for a different day 😁. As a customer service representative at FTC, my primary responsibilities were to process people’s telephone bills (yes they actually brought the paper bills in to pay them!), do general troubleshooting on customer’s phones, and take inventory. Taking inventory was definitely NOT my favorite part of the job. I had to manually count and tally every single cable, charger, phone, tablet, router, and phone case that we had for sale in the store, just to make sure that it matched with what our record was digitally. There were no barcodes to scan. I had to MANUALLY TOUCH EACH PIECE OF INVENTORY.
Granted, I used this experience as the justification for my senior capstone coding project (a phone app that allowed small businesses to digitally track and scan inventory), but it was still not a fun experience in the moment.
At the basic level, what was I doing when I begrudgingly counted all those items? What is taking inventory? When you take inventory and you add all the numbers up, you look at the facts and see if you’ve made a gain, or you’ve taken a loss. Let’s spend a few minutes talking about someone else who had to take some inventory.
11 And 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 falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And 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 fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet 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 unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, 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.
Luke 15:11-24
Here we find a man who took inventory in a pig pen, and found out that he had lost. He looked around at all he had left and he found that he had nothing. What was his solution?
To rise and go to his father.
Well Sam… what did he do to find himself in that place?
He thought about goods instead of God
Go back and read verses 11 and 12. I highlighted them for you in yellow.
Look at the boy’s father. He looks to be a man of great compassion. He wants what is best for his sons. He wants them to have the best life has to offer. We see from reading the full story that he loves his sons. So naturally when his son asks, he gives him his inheritance. It probably hurts the father to do so, but he did as his son requested. Think about the grief you would have if a son you loved came to you and just asked for your money. If they showed no care for you, but just what you could give them, wouldn’t that be hurtful?
Isn’t that what we do to God sometimes? We treat him like the genie in the sky who can give us what we want. God is more than that.
Why did the son want the inheritance so bad? Well, he knew that it was going to be his. So he wanted it NOW. His thought was, “its mine, so I’ll do what I want with it”. So he approaches his father and demands his inheritance.
People do this today. God gives them life, and they demand to live it on their terms. They demand to spend their time, money, and energy how they see fit for themselves. God gives us free will. He gives us the ability to do this, and many people don’t have the spiritual maturity to understand that we are to use our gifts, talents, and opportunities for God. We are too focused on all that WE can do with our lives. All the GOODS that we can acquire. Nice trucks, pretty dresses, houses, cars, degrees, vacations, etc. These are the things we errantly choose to focus on.
Note that the son would eventually find those goods to be empty, but at the time, as he thought about it, it all seemed very important. This son wasn’t the only one in the Bible who experienced this. Check out what Solomon had to say about it.
3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:3-2:11
Solomon wasn’t the only one either who came to that conclusion. Check out the rich young ruler!
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Luke 18:18-25
Here are people who had the riches. Eventually, maybe not in this life, but eventually I can assure you they came to the same conclusion that the prodigal son did. It’s not worth it.
What is your life saying to God today?
Is it saying, “I want all these goods, and I’ll neglect the Bible to get them”? Are you looking at your heavenly father the way that the prodigal son looked at his earthly father, demanding that God let you use his gift to you (a life of free will) for your own gain?
He thought of his flesh instead of his future
Go back and read to the original passage and read verses 13 through 16. I highlighted them for you in orange.
The Bible says that he wasted his inheritance on wild living. Note that he had to get into a far country. Away from his father. Why does this matter Sam?
It’s hard to sin when you spend time in the presence of the Father. It’s a lot easier to sin when you are far away from him. What are some ways we can be far away from God today?
- Keeping the wrong company
- Doing what we want instead of what God wants
- Listening to man instead of listening to God
- Chasing after people instead of chasing after God
The son thought that so many of his problems would be settled if he just got away, but we can see that his problems multiplied.
So many people today think that if they have a new environment, it’ll be the key to success. Kids want to get away from their parents. People like changing jobs. Changing churches, Switching schools.
They don’t want to be rooted in a place. They don’t want to commit to a thing. No one wants to commit to a person, or a set of rules. They want to live life and chase all the EXPERIENCES in the present. They don’t care about the future Isn’t that what the prodigal son was doing?
Let’s read what Ephesians 2:3 has to say about that.
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others
Ephesians 2:3
Our flesh is all about wanting to FEEL new things. More sex. More drinking. More drugs. New relationships. New experiences. These are the two directions that people chase after: GOODS and FEELINGS.
But, after all the experiences and goods the prodigal son had, where did he end up? The pigpen. That is the reality.
Let’s look at verse 17 of our original text. I highlighted it in a nice blue for you 😁.
Looks like the son had a “come-to-Jesus” moment, didn’t he? He had to face some things.
He faced the facts, instead of faking happiness.
The Bible says, “when he came to himself”. There has to be a moment of understanding that you come to in life. You have to realize the reality that, without Jesus, you’re scrapping around in the pigpen. All the pleasures of this earth are dull and nasty compared to the glory that is an eternity with Christ. We’re all rummaging and digging around in slop and dirt.
We shouldn’t ignore the reality of what life on this earth is. Too many people like to pretend. They get with a group of people who are walking the wide road that leads to destruction and they turn it into a road trip party. Do you think that the prodigal son was doing that when he was down in the slop?
- “I’m hungry but I guess everyone else is too”
- “I’m feeding pigs but lots of others are also”
Some people excuse their spiritual misery by thinking everyone is in the same boat. Misery loves company. Don’t fall for this. Look at your life and respond honestly as the prodigal son did. It’ll change your life just like it changed his.
What does verses 18-24 say?
The prodigal son said I will arise and go to my Father.
What happened when the father saw the son coming? In that day, Jewish men didn’t run. They’d have to hike up their cloaks and expose their legs. It was deemed to be embarrassing and uncivilized. This father ran to his son with open arms. Why? Because his love for his son trumped everything else.
God’s forgiveness trumps all else. It doesn’t matter what you do or did. You can come back to the father.
This principle applies whether you are 8 or 80.
I had the opportunity a while back to sit in a room with 4 generations of a particular family. This family had seen it all. Divorces, drugs, alcohol, unplanned pregnancies. Jail stints. Homelessness fears. Abusive relationships.Job uncertainty. Legal battles. Anger and bitterness.
God has impressed upon the lives of all these people equally, but one in particular had heeded the call to surrender all and return from the prodigal ways. They had taken inventory in the pig pen and decided that wasn’t what they needed. They returned to their Heavenly Father, and their life was changed. It was a visible and noticeable presence in that room. It was a powerful testimony that will then be shared. A noticeable difference.
Because of that one decision, a vicious cycle that had propagated through multiple generations was broken. God restored. God redeemed. There was a new ray of light shining into this family that had spent decades bound in spiritual darkness.
That’s what God does when we come back to Him. If you’re not close to Him today, it’s time to fix it.
Come back to Jesus. Face the facts. Get out of the pigpen.
