The parable of the lost son in Mark 15, tells of a young man who left his father’s house in search of a better life. The parable begins with the young man asking his father for his inheritance and, after receiving it, squandering all on this
‘new world’ he had found. After a while the young man discovers that life in the ‘fast lane’ is not as appealing as he first thought and he considers going back to his father’s house. On his return home, the prodigal son receives a king’s welcome and this infuriates his older brother. He says to the 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.
But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ (Luke 15:29-30) One can easily understand the anger and hurt of the older brother. For years he had stood by his father, dedicated time and loyalty to his family’s business but reaped no reward for this ‘exemplary’ behaviour. But the younger brother, who had disobeyed and hurt his father, receives a great celebration after he wasted his inheritance on prostitutes.
In other words, he was accusing his father of favouritism and rewarding bad behaviour. But his father responded: “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’“ (Luke 15:31-32) Maybe, like Prophet Jonah, the older brother got angry at the father’s mercy: “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? … I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. “ (Jonah 4: 1-2)
Jonah was angered at God’s compassion towards the ‘wicked’ people of Nineveh and just like the older brother in the parable, he wanted justice, but not God’s justice.
Have you ever thought: God, why do you bless that person and they’ve not been faithful as I have been all these years? Why must I offer tithe every month when this newly converted Christian got a blessing and is not even a tither yet? I have been doing what is right in the eyes of God, but the unbelievers are succeeding without Him? Sound familiar?
Dear reader, the answer to all these questions lies tucked within the father’s response: ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. God never withholds anything from us. Just like the father in the parable, He has made available his love and favour to all His children. The problem arises when we take for granted the opportunity we have in taking hold of His blessings. Let us therefore rise up to the challenge that God gives us: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” (John 15:7)