Hitting Rock Bottom
Our men continued our study of Luke 15 and the parable of the prodigal son this morning. It is an amazing story from Jesus to show us the basics of salvation and other important truths. We had a great discussion of how the young man entered into a time of rebellion, revelry, and then, he hit rock bottom. How do you like the alliteration? I hope it helps in remembering the story.
We focused in on how God humbled this young man. He spent all that he had received from his father. Then, a severe famine hit. It was God's way of rubbing in the fact that he was out of money. That did not bring him to rock bottom yet. It was not until he took a very smelly job of feeding swine that he finally realized what was going on. Here was a Jew feeding the animals a good Jew would not eat, and he was so hungry he would have eaten the pig food. Then, he hit rock bottom. Have you ever been there? What did it take to get you there? What did you do next?
The prodigal son "came to himself." Before this, he had been fooling himself. He had been forgetting how he was raised. He had left who he was to try to be someone different. Now, he came back to who he was, and he saw that even his father's servants had food and more. He decided to humble himself and repent. There is another "R" for our alliteration, too. He had to hit rock bottom before he was willing to repent. He had to repent before he would return home. Once he was humble and repentant in heart, he arose and returned. That action showed his repentance. It is not until we act that our repentance is real. It is a change of mind that leads to a change in behavior.
We all have to repent before we can be saved. We do not have to hit rock bottom, but many people do. It takes that to break the pride. However, all of us have to turn from our way and turn our lives fully over to the Lord. Whatever it takes, we must get to the point that we realize we can't do anything ourselves that is of eternal significance. We realize that is only by the power of God that we can be changed and have eternal life. Then, and only then, are we ready to trust Jesus as Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 9-11.
We focused in on how God humbled this young man. He spent all that he had received from his father. Then, a severe famine hit. It was God's way of rubbing in the fact that he was out of money. That did not bring him to rock bottom yet. It was not until he took a very smelly job of feeding swine that he finally realized what was going on. Here was a Jew feeding the animals a good Jew would not eat, and he was so hungry he would have eaten the pig food. Then, he hit rock bottom. Have you ever been there? What did it take to get you there? What did you do next?
The prodigal son "came to himself." Before this, he had been fooling himself. He had been forgetting how he was raised. He had left who he was to try to be someone different. Now, he came back to who he was, and he saw that even his father's servants had food and more. He decided to humble himself and repent. There is another "R" for our alliteration, too. He had to hit rock bottom before he was willing to repent. He had to repent before he would return home. Once he was humble and repentant in heart, he arose and returned. That action showed his repentance. It is not until we act that our repentance is real. It is a change of mind that leads to a change in behavior.
We all have to repent before we can be saved. We do not have to hit rock bottom, but many people do. It takes that to break the pride. However, all of us have to turn from our way and turn our lives fully over to the Lord. Whatever it takes, we must get to the point that we realize we can't do anything ourselves that is of eternal significance. We realize that is only by the power of God that we can be changed and have eternal life. Then, and only then, are we ready to trust Jesus as Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 9-11.