Luke 15:18-31 (NIVUK)
28 ‘The elder brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
31 ‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”’
The elder brother is furious: his brother is rewarded for neglecting his duty whilst he is ignored when fulfilling his! There is a twist, though, it turns out that like his younger brother, he had been guilty of turning his back on his dad, the father was always willing to treat him and lavishly reward him if only he’d come to him.
Father forgive me for when I hide behind ‘doing good’, and neglect looking to you. Forgive us, younger siblings and elder siblings, our sins.
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