Other Brother
There are times when staying close to home (local church) isn’t God’s will for our lives. Jesus tells us to go. But many choose to remain close to home. We sometimes forget or lose sight of where our real home is. (read John 14)
Jesus shared a parable that we can find over in the book of Luke, chapter 15. A rancher had two sons. Well, most all of y’all have heard the Parable of the Two Sons before. Towards the end there is a fatted calf. Pop was a rancher. The younger one wanted to strike out on his own, and so he asked for his share of his father’s inheritance. Going out wasn’t the problem; the problem was that he was going completely on his own without his father direction.
Meanwhile, the older son stayed home helping Dad and taking care of the ranch.
Many sermons and stories have been shared, from those verses, concerning the son who left, but what about the one who stayed? We’ll get back to that in a minute. (at least we will if I don’t get sidetracked on the one who left)
The prodigal was living it up with all sorts of drinking and carousing. But he soon found himself dead broke. And to make it worse, the country where he ended up was experiencing a severe drought and famine. He finally found a job slopping hogs, and he was even eating some of the slop for himself as he was starving. Yep, he was in extreme poverty.
Well, he decided that it would be much better to eat off the floor of his father’s cowhands than what he had, so he headed home.
The trail home took a good while, but he finally made it to the front gate. Pop saw him coming and ran and put a good western shirt with pearl snaps around his shoulders and gave him a big ole bear hug. (one of those hugs like you really mean it)
Now, what about the other brother? He was the older one who never strayed. Stayed practically within a stone’s throw of the home place all his life. He came in from the back pasture as he had heard all the commotion and goings on. You see, the father welcomed prodigal lil’ brother home right in front of all the hands and told ‘em to butcher the calf they had been feeding out over at the corral. That older brother was ticked! “Compared to me and all I have done for you, my brother should not even be allowed to eat at the cow puncher’s campfire yet you welcome him and butcher a prime Hereford?”
But what about me? You never even let me have a goat or gave me so much as a little party. And you are giving this bum of a brother a feast? I’ll have no part of this! Could it be that the older brother had hung around the ranch (church) all his life yet didn’t even know his Father?
The Father wants to throw a feast because one has come to Christ, and yet we’re jealous because we somehow think he or she don’t deserve to walk in the doors of the church, much less the gate to the trail of life!
Luke 15:31b-32: ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ AMEN!
It reminds me of some kids at the store with Ma and she gives them all a piece of candy, but one is ticked, “How come I got a smaller piece than everybody else?” We’re never happy.
But I’ll tell you folks, we ought to rej oice when another comes into God’s family! BELIEVE AND KNOW THIS: THERE IS PLENTY OF GOD’S KINGDOM FOR ALL!
We should be jumping for joy and yelling “YEEHAW when one who was lost comes to the Father through Christ the Son. God’s grace demands a celebration! We should be HAPPY!
Choose Jesus, choose life and let your light shine! And find a Bible believin’ church where you “fit in” and know, grow, and follow Christ! Tell others! See y’all at church and keep PRAYIN’ for HIS HARVE ST! And pray for rain!