Am I Missing the Party?

          I noticed something new this week in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Tucked into the beginning of the story is a small little word that opens the door to a whole new level of meaning, at least for me.  After the younger son demands his inheritance now, verse 12 of Luke 15 says, “So [the father] divided to them his livelihood” (emphasis mine).  Them.  He didn’t just give to the younger son, but he gave the older son his inheritance as well.  If I’m remembering right, the older son, by tradition, would have received a double portion.  And yet, why at the end of the story do we find the older brother pouting in a corner because his father never gave him anything?  In verse 28, the father pleads with his older son to join the party, to experience the joy.  But the son refuses, and instead chooses to hold onto his pride, his bitterness, his selfishness and turns a blind eye to all that is available to him.  “Son,” the father says, “you are always with me, and all that I have is yours” (verse 31).

            How often is my behavior like the older son?  Am I so self-focused that I’m blind to the joy and blessing I’ve been given?  “Daughter,” my Father says, “all that I have is yours.”  In just the first chapter of Ephesians alone, we find that our Father has “…blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ Himself….In Him we have redemption…forgiveness…the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us…made known to us the mystery of His will….”  And “in Him also we have obtained an inheritance…were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise…the guarantee of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:3-14).  And that’s just 12 verses out of an entire Bible of blessing. 

            The Father, the God of the Universe, has lavished His grace on me and blessed me with every spiritual blessing.  Am I living like that’s true?  Is my life a reflection of His gift, or am I sitting in the corner with my arms folded, pouting about the particulars of the party, or because I didn’t get something I thought I should.  I pray my eyes are open from now on to what I have, to what I’ve been given, to the freedom of being a daughter of the Most High God, showered with the inheritance of His love.

Father,

            Please give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the deep and intimate knowledge of You.  Flood the eyes of my heart with light so that I can know and understand the hope to which You have called me as well as the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of Your power in me and for me.  May my life be full of the joy and love that comes from a true understanding of You and my position as your daughter. (from Ephesians 1: 17-19, Amplified Bible)

            Amen.