Lost

His father said to him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!” Luke 15:31-32

IN LUKE 15 we read about a series of lost treasures —a lost sheep sought after and brought home, a lost coin searched for and rejoiced over, and a lost son waited for and welcomed. But really there are two lost sons in the third story.

One son is in “a distant country” seeking pleasure, evading responsibility, and self-medicating his madness. He is lost in the delusion that the world will fill him up, but in reality it is chewing him up and leaving him desperately empty. The other son remains in his father’s home and yet is so very far away from sharing his father’s heart. He is lost in such a haze of angry resentment, self-righteous protest, and arrogant entitlement that he doesn’t realize that he has never lost what matters most —the presence of his father. All of his life he has shared in all that belongs to the father.

As parents we tend to get so worked up over sons and daughters who stray from us, living lifestyles that are nothing like the one they grew up in. And rightly so. Any lost child grieves us. But we must also be on watch for sons and daughters who may be going through the motions of being “the good kid” while having hearts that are so very far away from the Father.

Father, just as you have all kinds of prodigals in your family, so do we. So we appeal to you to seek and save the lost. Do what you must to bring to their senses those who are far away from you, seeking satisfaction in anything and everything apart from you. If severe mercy is the only thing that will bring them to saving grace, then be as severe as the wonders of your love require. If things have to get much worse in their lives, then give us the patience, trust, and assurance that you are at work. And should we be tempted to rescue them before your work is done, grant us grace and power to resist doing so.

And for our prodigals who haven’t gone anywhere but have confused proximity to you and work for you with love for you, show them how much they need the grace of the gospel.