My Journey
The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. Luke 15:12 – 13
We are all on a journey called life. Your journey may be different than mine and most likely is, but it is the path you choose to walk each day. Maybe you believe you have no choice, and you are stuck in the place you are right now, but the truth is, you always have a choice.
The parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told in Luke 15, pretty much sums up the journey I was on. Although I didn’t ask my parents for my share of the estate, mainly because there wasn’t one. My route out was marriage. I made the choice to get married at 18 and move to a place far away from the life I had up to that point. Again, I didn’t squander all I had, but I did marry someone who did. It was a bad situation, and at the end of four years, I found myself back in my hometown as a single mother working two full time jobs, trying to hold it all together.
I never found myself feeding the pigs, though I did live with a few along the way. One bad decision after another led me further from the love of my heavenly Father. Until I came to the point that I thought I was finally settled now in another relationship that was destined to fail. As hard as I tried to keep it together, there just wasn’t enough in me to continue on this journey going downhill faster every day.
Finally, I turned around and ran back to my Father, only to realize that he was there waiting and watching for me all along. I found myself in the same position as that prodigal in the parable: “And I rose up and came back to my Father. But when I was still a great way off, my Father saw me and had compassion, and ran and fell on my neck and kissed me. I said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your child.’ “But my Father said, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on her, and put a ring on her hand and sandals on her feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my daughter was dead and is alive again; she was lost and is found.’ Luke 15:20-24
Now my journey looks a lot different. I follow my Father’s lead wherever He would take me. He has given me a new home and a new life. A wonderful husband and family and good friends. I am connected in and protected by the family He has placed me in…His family, the Family of God!
Today I want to encourage you to take a look at your life journey. Are you on the path your loving Father prepared for you or have you taken a detour along the way? Don’t make the same mistakes that I made and try to figure this thing out on your own. Instead, turn your life over to His plan and walk out the journey He purposed for your life before you were even born. That is where you will find your joy and contentment in life and that is where you will know the reason you exist.
Today’s Scripture reading: Luke 15:11-32
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.
14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
15 Then 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 gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But 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.
21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23 And bring the fatted calf here 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.
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
28 “But he 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.’
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
The Daily Dose 