As parents, we are often faced with difficult decisions. Sometimes we are faced with a seemingly impossible decision. A child's actions can become so dishonorable or gross it can become necessary to actually, disown him (or her). A black mother went on Facebook and rightly condemned the "Black Lives Matter" movement for blaming society for the deaths of black street criminals by policemen. Later, on Fox News, she revealed that she and her husband had found it necessary to turn their own son into the police because he refused to be law abiding.
In previous generations, education rightly
implied that all Americans were familiar with the Bible, both Old Testament and
New Testament. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus gave the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Parables were stories from life that Jesus used to teach spiritual lessons to His disciples. This
parable is the story of a father and his two sons. The younger asks for and
receives his inheritance. He then took off, "into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living" (verse 13). In case we
are unfamiliar with "riotous living," the older brother chided his father that
his brother "hath devoured thy living
with harlots" (verse 30). Why do parents too often wink at their "sons
sowing their wild oats," and then have to pray for crop failure?
Unfortunately,
too often today, our daughters are now included in what was "normal" misconduct
by males of yesteryear. It is a crying shame that the feminist movement does
not recognize the true role of women in culture, based on the Bible. The
phrase, "leading from behind," comes to mind. Mothers and wives -- they used to
go together -- form the moral and spiritual foundation of the family as well as
the nation. An old political cliché ran, "the hand that rocks the cradle rules
the nation." Mothers influence on and with their sons cannot be over
emphasized. Most successful men willingly attribute their success to their
wives and mothers! On the other hand, it was Eve (the mother of us all) that
got us kicked out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1ff).
Back to the Prodigal Son, after wasting his inheritance with riotous living, he found himself without friends, and reduced to feeding hogs for some Gentiles (Luke 15:15). Now, under the Law, pigs were considered "unclean," and the Jews were prohibited from eating pork or sacrificing swine to Jehovah. In other words, after living in the immoral pigpens of life, he was reduced to spending his life sloping hogs in a literal pigpen. Too often in life, we have to hit the bottom to realize the need for our heavenly father. During WWII (i.e. The Great Generation) it was said, "there are no Atheists in a fox hole." As with the Prodigal, we realize our Heavenly Father will take us back.
As with the Prodigal, we need to repent and confess, "Father I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee" (verses 18 and 21). Coming home to God under Christianity involves obeying the Gospel (Romans 1:16-18) and living the Christian life as outlined in the Scriptures. Our Heavenly Father too, will have compassion on us when and if we will but come home to Him!
Dale I. Royal, Elk City, OK
