The Pressure

The Pressure

Reading the Word

About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant”’ (Luke 15:14–19).

Setting the Scene

The young man runs out of resources just as a famine hits the land. Suddenly he has nothing—no funds, friends, or even food. In desperation, he takes a job feeding pigs; and there his hunger leads him to consider eating their garbage-food.

Jesus said the young man “finally [comes] to his senses” (v. 17) and decides to return home and plead with his father to take him back, even if only as a servant. The son could have saved his pride and avoided his older brother’s scorn by never going home. He could have searched for a job as a hired hand anywhere. Instead, he chooses to return. Note the words that he plans to say to his father: “I have sinned against both heaven and you.” He wants to say he is sorry, to repent of the selfishness that had sent him away and for wasting the money his father had set aside for his future. Even if the result means becoming a hired hand in his own home, he will return there in order to say these words to his father.

Getting Personal

In this story, we can imagine that the loving father was aware of what had happened to his son—either he had heard or he had known simply because of what he knew of the boy and the effects of a famine. Unlike the stories of the lost sheep and lost coin, the father doesn’t physically search and rescue the lost boy. Instead he patiently waits, probably with tears. He loves his son so much that he allows him to understand the reality of his situation and repent. Although God’s loves us, he doesn’t wrench us out of our desperate situations and drag us home. He waits—looking and loving, ready to welcome and embrace.

• Jesus said the young man “came to his senses” (v. 17) and admitted that he had sinned—both critical steps in finding his way home. What caused you to come to your senses?
• When did you realize the Father was waiting for you? What did you do?

Talking to God

O Lord, I am often so foolish, wasting resources and moving away from your presence. Yet you love and wait and welcome me home. Please forgive my arrogant selfishness, thinking I can live without you.

Adapted from Life Application Study Bible Devotional by Dave Veerman and Neil Wilson (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2011), used by permission.