Luke 15:28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
I have always sympathized with the older brother in this story, the non-prodigal, the one who stayed. Even now, I understand how he feels. He wants that validation, that recognition. He feels he *deserves* it, which is where the problem comes in. Bitterness has taken hold in his heart so that he can’t see the blessings readily available to him—the father and all his resources. He only sees what he feels is missing.
Luke 15:29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
I am reminded of Luke 6:45 “…For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” The older son’s heart is full of bitterness. It is dripping from his words. And it causes him to miss the blessings that are and have been lavished on him daily. It causes his work for the father to be a burden, a chore.
Luke 15:30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
Precious Savior, Thank You for the words that You whisper to my heart. I am just as guilty as the older son of allowing bitterness to rob me of my servant’s heart. Forgive me. Take this bitterness from me. Help me to ground myself solely in You and not in this world. Amen.
Luke 15:31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’”
Have a blessed day.