by OneAccord
We’ve all heard the story about the Prodical Son. But what about the other son? The Elder Son is the one who served his father faithfully. He remained true to his family, He was faithful in service, and never lived the riotous life that his younger brother had lived.
However, the Elder Son in this story serves as a perfect example of many Christians who have become a little too pre-occupied in the Fathers service.
For one thing, our first glimpse of the Elder Son is while he was returning from the field… far from the fathers house. Yes, he was faithfully working, but sometimes, working for God becomes our priority rather than God Himself. While the Elder Son busied himself with his chores, he was depriving himself of some quality time with his father. Elder Sons of today are so busy working for God that they often neglect their relationship WITH GOD. No time to pray, got to get to the next church function. Can’t fast, having a church dinner tomorrow night. You can tell today’s Elder Sons from a mile away. They are the ones who have no time for their families, because they have to rush to the next revival or campmeeting. Like Peter on the night of the Lord’s arrest, they follow the Lord but only from “afar”. Martha was acting like an Elder Son when she concerned herself only with SERVING Jesus, while Mary sat at His feet establishing a relationship with Him.
(Luke 10) While we
“must be about the Father’s service”, we must never neglect to spend quality time with the Lord.
In fact, the Elder Son had spent so much time away from the fathers house that he failed to recognize that sound of merriment. This reminds me of the present day Elder Sons who have neglected their fellowship with the Lord to the point that they no longer even recognize the moving of God’s Spirit. In fact, in some cases, they have drifted so far from the Fathers house, that they now find Pentecostal worship quite annoying. Just as the Elder Son in our story became angry with all this unnecessary merriment, the Elder Sons of today are annoyed and embarrassed by the moving of God’s Spirit. This Elder Son was so removed from fathers house that he didn’t understand what all the music and dancing was all about. He had to ask what it was all about.
And, he became angry. His anger was motivated by jealousy and hatred. And he refused to enter his fathers house. Like the Elder Son here, present day Elder Sons refuse to enter into the blessing of God because they don‘t like all that noise in the church service anymore.. The Works of the flesh rule them rather than the Fruit of the Spirit. There is no joy to their Christian walk. Theirs is a life of spiritual drudgery, conforming to man made rules, rather than being led by God’s Spirit. They aren’t motivated by love when they see a sinner give his heart to the Lord. Rather, just like the Elder Son here, they begin to judge their own spirituality by what they perceive as a lack of spirituality in others around them. They become self-righteous. “Why, I’ve been a faithful member for years, and you’ve never made such a fuss over me!” They point out the mistakes and failing of others while they gloat about their own spiritual accomplishments.
(Luke 15:29-30) Like another Elder Son in
Luke 18, they stand before God pointing out their own spirituality while rejoicing that they aren’t
“like other men…or even this publican…", who humbly cried out to God for mercy.
Many Elder Sons of today have no interest in establishing a relationship with God. Their only interest in being in church is for what they can get from the church.
“….Thou never gavest me a kid…”, the Elder Son wailed. Being a Christian isn’t about what we can GET, but rather about what we can GIVE. In addition, the Elder Son was satisfied with living beneath his spiritual privilege. He would have settled with a kid when he could have had a fatted calf anytime he wanted it. God wants us to prosper and be in health but often we settle for just getting by! We sing “Lord, just me a cabin in Gloryland”, when it is the Fathers good pleasure to give us His Kingdom! The Elder Son settled for the life of a servant when, in fact, he was a SON!
This Elder Son boasted that he had …at any time
“…never transgressed e thy commandment….”. There are Elder Sons today who are proud of the fact that they have convinced themselves (and others) that they are without sin. John tells us that if we say we have no sin , we deceive ourselves.
(1 John 1:8.) John also has quite a lot to say about hating our brothers.
(1 John 3)
The Elder Son had no interest in spending time with His Father. He just wanted to spend time with his friends.
(v 29). Many of today’s Eldest Sons think of the church as nothing more than a social meeting place where the latest gossip or the latest recipe or the latest sports scores are freely exchanged. Hearing the sermon has about as much interest to them as praying at the altar. The Supper Room takes precedence over the Upper Room.
The most insidious thing about this Elder Son is that he felt he had to earn place in the fathers house. Some today think they have to score points with the Great Scorekeeper to be a part of His Kingdom. We don’t earn our place in God’s Kingdom. That place was bought and paid for at Calvary. We don’t do works to get saved, we do what the Bible requires of us because we ARE saved! One of the greatest verses in the Bible is found in
Luke 15:31. The father said to his son…
” Son, thou are ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” And God is saying the same thing to us. Perhaps its time for us to come in out of the fields of our thinking we have to earn our place in God‘s Kingdom. Perhaps its time for us to come down from our lofty perches, and enter our Fathers House, where there is the sound of joy and gladness. Perhaps we need to lay down our self-righteous and judgmental tools of labor, and pull up a chair at the Masters Table.
Linear Mode
