The Prodigal's First Mistake
The prodigal son. I always thought of him as impulsive. Greedy and foolish. Prodigal defined is reckless and wastefully extravagant.
HOWEVER....
I don't believe the boy was always so foolish.
BEFORE the son ever approached his father for his part of the inheritance there was an underlying HEART ISSUE that is never really mentioned but we can safely assume.
Neither the runaway nor his brother were lacking in any way. In fact when big brother throws his temper tantrum after the rugrat comes homes dad says, (with PATIENCE I'm SURE) "You are always with me and all I have is YOURS."
EVERYTHING they ever needed was handed to them on a silver platter.
So if they lacked for NOTHING then what on EARTH was the boy THINKING? To walk away from all of that? ALL of those things were rightfully HIS! But rather than WAIT for the FULLNESS of it to come to pass. He grabbed it all prematurely and ran with it.
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Jonah 2:8
Jonah said it. The prodigal son lived it.
For WHAT? Chasing something NEW.
Here is where the boy's underlying heart issue is revealed. He'd become discontent. Restless. Bored. Disatisfied. And UNGRATEFUL..
But rather than recognize the seeds of discontentment and get his heart right ---- it slowly began to blind him to reality and deceive him into thinking there was -------- MORE to be HAD.
and he had to have it NOW.
Lack of gratitude was the breeding ground for discontentment.
Discontentment was the breeding ground for restlessness.
Restlessness led to impulsiveness.
Impulsiveness led to GREED.
and greed led to irrational thinking ----and he squandered it all before he could take stock of what he had.
There was more to be had yes!
But he wasn't MEANT to have it NOW....and it began to lead him down a path he never thought it would take him.
He never imagined he'd be making his home with the pigs.....
Before you squander what's rightfully yours in the first place----take a look at your heart. If you've become discontent, disatisfied and ungrateful be very careful. A discontent heart can become the breeding ground for pride, greed and foolish irrational thinking----taking you away from every blessing you HAVE been given to chase something that will never satisfy but leave you empty handed.
They key to contentment: PERSPECTIVE & GRATITUDE
A GRATEFUL heart rests SATISFIED and CONTENT with this life you've been given. No matter what you find in your hands....KNOWING that every GOOD thing you've been given is from the Father's hands.
And EVERYthing He has is ALREADY yours.........
and what's MORE? The BEST is yet to COME!
HOWEVER....
I don't believe the boy was always so foolish.
BEFORE the son ever approached his father for his part of the inheritance there was an underlying HEART ISSUE that is never really mentioned but we can safely assume.
Neither the runaway nor his brother were lacking in any way. In fact when big brother throws his temper tantrum after the rugrat comes homes dad says, (with PATIENCE I'm SURE) "You are always with me and all I have is YOURS."
EVERYTHING they ever needed was handed to them on a silver platter.
So if they lacked for NOTHING then what on EARTH was the boy THINKING? To walk away from all of that? ALL of those things were rightfully HIS! But rather than WAIT for the FULLNESS of it to come to pass. He grabbed it all prematurely and ran with it.
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Jonah 2:8
Jonah said it. The prodigal son lived it.
For WHAT? Chasing something NEW.
Here is where the boy's underlying heart issue is revealed. He'd become discontent. Restless. Bored. Disatisfied. And UNGRATEFUL..
But rather than recognize the seeds of discontentment and get his heart right ---- it slowly began to blind him to reality and deceive him into thinking there was -------- MORE to be HAD.
and he had to have it NOW.
Lack of gratitude was the breeding ground for discontentment.
Discontentment was the breeding ground for restlessness.
Restlessness led to impulsiveness.
Impulsiveness led to GREED.
and greed led to irrational thinking ----and he squandered it all before he could take stock of what he had.
There was more to be had yes!
But he wasn't MEANT to have it NOW....and it began to lead him down a path he never thought it would take him.
He never imagined he'd be making his home with the pigs.....
Before you squander what's rightfully yours in the first place----take a look at your heart. If you've become discontent, disatisfied and ungrateful be very careful. A discontent heart can become the breeding ground for pride, greed and foolish irrational thinking----taking you away from every blessing you HAVE been given to chase something that will never satisfy but leave you empty handed.
They key to contentment: PERSPECTIVE & GRATITUDE
A GRATEFUL heart rests SATISFIED and CONTENT with this life you've been given. No matter what you find in your hands....KNOWING that every GOOD thing you've been given is from the Father's hands.
And EVERYthing He has is ALREADY yours.........
and what's MORE? The BEST is yet to COME!
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