Luke 15:25-27 (NIVUK)
25 ‘Meanwhile, the elder son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”
In my family I’m the older brother. I also tend to be the compliant obedient son too, which always makes the closing scenes of this parable quite uncomfortable. Here the older son is busy doing the things he believed were his duty, only to discover that a party is taking place inside for his wayward brother, and his dad is hosting it! We’ll come to his response to this tomorrow, but for now the realisation that God was not found in dutiful obedience but in the celebration of relationship.
Spirit, help me to put faithfulness before obedience, relationship before rules, Father before duty.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash
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