A Prodigal Son’s Story

September 30, 2022

If you have attended church for any length of time, you have likely heard the story of the prodigal son. If you have not heard the story, let me recap it for you. In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of a son, the younger of two brothers, who asks for his share of the inheritance before his father dies. His father grants him his request and the son sets off to a place far away from home. There he spends all his money on frivolous living, when famine strikes. He decides to work for a local and he is hired to feed the pigs. It is in the moment, as he is longing to eat the pigs food, that he considers the high quality of life of his father’s servants. So he decides to return home, not as a son, but as a servant seeking work in his father’s house. But, while he is a long way off, the father sees him, runs to him, orders a robe and a ring be put on him, and orders a fattened calf to be killed for food to celebrate his son’s return.

I tell you this story because it is the story of one of our Acts student’s in Bhutan—S. S. grew up as a pastor’s son and was very familiar with the gospel. However, for him, the testimony of God’s love for him had no bearing on his life as was evidenced by his venture into substance abuse. The addiction and the shame it brought to him and his family led him to consider attempting suicide. Yet, S. says it was the result of the faithful prayers of his family and church that he did not kill himself and instead turned to Jesus.

Just as the prodigal son in Jesus’s parable, S. found Jesus with compassion in His eyes, running to embrace a wayward son on his journey home. S. is now assisting his father in church ministry while studying at the nearby Acts training center. His favorite module covered was on healing the wounded—a module on biblical counseling. As recipient of God’s healing through the ministry of the Church, S. loves to be able to offer others help, just as he was offered the help he received.

The Lord loves to redeem our stories. Perhaps you have a prodigal son, daughter, friend, person in your life. Today, I encourage you to have hope and continue to pray. Who knows, God may return them as He illustrated in this parable and as He did in S’s life. If you are the prodigal, you can know what to expect when you return home: a celebration for your return!