Standing By The Mirror

Luke 15:11-24

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

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The myth of the prodigal son should well be known as a story this is based on credible fact. It covers everything from love, hatred and greed to jealousy, squalor and splendour. It shows the compassion of loving father in dealing with a prodigal son who has no regard for his father, family; or even his own future. He took his inheritance, travelled far from home and engaged in wasteful short moment of pleasure. This is a great lesson for children who are away from home. Theirs may not be a prodigious journey to waste inheritance, but still youths living away from home must endeavour to hold on to those family values and godly upbringing that they have received. It will be sad to see children throwing away those lessons of life that they have learned for about 20 years of their lives. Living away from home offer opportunities to show forth the light of Christ by walking in the truth, which is always a joyful news for parents.

For the prodigal son, after the wasteful living, comes famine in the land, then hunger and destitution. This is the low point of the story. Then he reflected upon his life, came back to his senses and remembered. That was his moment before the mirror. He saw his pitiful state. He realised that even his father's servant had enough to eat. He saw himself as one in need of help, salvation and redemption. We may not have wasted family's inheritance, but we have taken God's grace for granted, have strayed so far and fell so low in sin. A look into God's word will reveal our state of sin sinking deep, far from the peaceful shore and deeply stained within. Unlike the physical mirror that just show us the state, without telling us what to do to correct it, the mirror of God's word tells us what we need to do to receive God's cleansing and be right with Him again. This mirror of God's word helps us to realise that a better life lies ahead for us; in spite of the depth of destitution. Beloved, look into the mirror today and follow the instructions there to make things right.

May we always look to God's word that shows our spiritual state, not as forgetful hearer,but as doers, upholding godly values all times, through Christ's guidance. Amen.