Articles
Letters to the Prodigal Son
Bear with me this week as I deviate from the usual article on spiritual matters and I attempt to use a little imagination to write what might have been two letters from the father to his Prodigal Son, based on the account of Luke 15:11-32; one is sent not long after the son’s departure, and the second after the father had received a report of his son’s situation.…
Dear son,
I cannot tell you how difficult it was to hear you wanted your share of the inheritance now (Luke 15:12), and then to see you leave just a few days later for a far country (Luke 15:13). I wanted so much to sit you down and talk about it, but there was nothing I could say to you that had not already been said; I have raised you to know there is much in the world that will appeal to you, but is not as wonderful as it first seems, and I have always made sure you knew that you were always welcome to stay with us and enjoy all the blessings of this household for as long as you desired. It hurt to hear and then see you no longer wanted any part of that.
I must tell you that I wondered for days why you would want your inheritance now, and after you left, I wondered [and still am wondering] what else we — I — could have done for you to make you want to stay. I also wondered what I had ever done to make you want to leave! Is there something I did or said? Did I not provide some need? Did I not demonstrate my love for you sufficiently? I have not concluded that I have failed in any way, so what was it?
Please reconsider your choice to leave; I don’t know what your plans are, but I only wish to remind you to be careful wherever you may go. There are many in this world who will be your friend when you are paying the bills, but disappear when the money runs out. There are many who will try to convince you the fleshly indulgences are what life is all about, but you will learn [hopefully not the hard way] that those are empty promises and outright lies. I know that your home life may look ‘boring’ or ‘unfulfilling’ compared to some of the worldly offerings you will no doubt see, but please consider that what we have given you, what we have taught you, and the environment in which we raised you was for your good. What the world offers may be pleasurable and ‘fun’ for the moment, but there will be many things you may live to regret later, and many others that will only harm you and/or your reputation.
Again, you will always be welcome here. We pray for your safety, and for wise decision-making.
Love, Your Father
The following is the second letter the father sent, after getting a report of the son’s current condition…
Dear son,
A report was brought to me recently regarding your situation and I am, of course, greatly concerned. Before I say any more, please know I was not ‘checking up on you,’ but this report was brought to me by someone who happened to meet you not long ago and with whom we traded, and through conversation discovered I was your father. He thought I would want to know. [He was right!]
From what has been told to me, a famine has come to where you are (Luke 15:14) and, to make matters worse, it appears you have nothing left of the inheritance. I fear for your well-being and can only pray you find someone who will help you in this difficult time. I know you learned about diligence and the value of honest living, so I hope you are able to find some means of supporting yourself now that the inheritance is gone.
I want you to know that no matter what you have done, no matter how far you are away from home, and no matter how difficult you may think it would be to come home, the door is always open and we will all welcome you back — unequivocally. No matter how bad things have been or may yet be, you are still my son. Just please consider it, will you? A day has not passed when I have not thought about you, prayed for you, and looked for your face on the horizon. Every distant figure who approaches our land is met with anticipation it is you, but we have so far been disappointed every time. With all sincerity, we miss you and wish only the best for you. If you can find it in your heart to honestly recall the life you had before you left, I am hoping you will see how blessed you were, and how it can be once again.
But the choice is yours. I will not force your return or burden you with guilt, but only want you to know that, as my son, you will always be loved and you will always be welcome in my home.
Love, Your Father
Now, these fictional letters are just that: fictional. But the point of this experimental look at this familiar Bible story is to get us to see the truth and reality of what Jesus was trying to get across in the telling of this story and the two previous, shorter, stories of something that was lost and then found. In the first two stories, the shepherd who found the lost sheep called “together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’” (Luke 15:6); the woman who found her lost coin called “her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’” (Luke 15:9). In both cases, it was said there would likewise be joy in heaven “over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7, 10); something lost was now found!
And in the story of the Prodigal Son, it is no different. When the son “came to himself” (Luke 15:17), he remembered just how much better his life at his father’s house had been, and how much better it would be than his present situation — even if he had to be a servant (Luke 15:18, 19). And when he returned, “when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). That picture, and the celebration that followed upon his return (Luke 15:22-24) are some important points we should not overlook!
You see, the father might have allowed the son to take the inheritance without resistance, and he may have allowed him to go to the far country without trying to talk him out of it, but none of this meant the father did not care. And when the son wasted his inheritance and when he found himself in a most pitiable condition, you can guarantee the father would have been heartbroken to know that is where his son was. Regardless of what the son may have done, he was still his father’s son, and he was still loved.
That fact was most evident at the son’s return, “when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” The father did not wait impatiently with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, demanding the son grovel at his feet and say ‘just the right words’ before he accepted him back, albeit begrudgingly. No, the father welcomed the son back and celebrated his return. His father still loved him! He had always loved him!
Friends and brethren, the father in this story is God, and the Prodigal Son is every one of us. Every one of us has left God at some point in our lives because we have all sinned (Rom. 3:23). God does not prevent us from leaving Him, though He wants us to choose Him and His ways. He gives us the freedom to choose our path, but He also wants us to choose the one that leads us to Him (Matt. 7:13, 14). It is His desire that we, too, realize His ways are far superior to the pig slop of the world, and that He doesn’t quit loving us when we make some really bad choices (Rom. 8:39).
He is anxiously and patiently awaiting your return. — Steven Harper
