| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning” Our Bible verse for today: “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!’ I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.” Luke 15:17-18 (CSB) Our thought for today: “We have to come to our senses” Yesterday we thought about how it is that experience is such a great teacher. We also learned that sometimes learning hurts and our education comes in painful doses. I don’t want to be too quick to leave this subject because the fact is that we learn more from our difficult experiences in life than in almost any other way. On Sunday nights at Oak Hill Baptist Church, we are conducting and in-depth study of the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is found in chapter fifteen of the Gospel of Luke. If you aren’t familiar with the parable, it’s the story of a young man who was raised in a wealthy family by a good and kind father. But as a rebellious teenager he demanded his share of the family inheritance from his father, and then he went off to a foreign land and wasted his wealth on wine, women, and song. Soon, his money was gone and he found himself living in great poverty – in a pigsty, starving and longing to eat even the fodder the pigs were feeding on. Long story short, the boy had hit rock bottom. And it was then that he came to his senses. He realized what a fool he had been and that he had brought all his suffering on himself through a series of phenomenally bad choices. He also realized that the only thing that made any sense at this point was to return home and to beg his father’s forgiveness. He did, and … well, it’s a happy ending. You can read the entire story in Luke 15:11-32. But why? Why did it turn into a happy ending for the prodigal? It was because he finally came to his senses. He acknowledged what a fool he had been, he repented, he asked forgiveness, he found forgiveness, and the rest, as they say, is history. The implication in Jesus’ story is that this was a major turning point in the young man’s life, and his time in the pigpen was one of the most profound and helpful lessons of his life. Hitting rock bottom can be like that. Sometimes the best and most transformational life lessons come after spending some time in the pigpens of life (or, in some correspondingly bad set of circumstances.) But the key to getting out of the pigpen and to being restored is coming to our senses. We have to admit that God’s ways are right, our ways are wrong, and we then make the needed course correction in life. Why does it sometimes take us so long to come to our senses? Probably because we are stubborn, thickheaded, and rebellious. But when we finally smarten-up and come to our senses, we often find that those prodigal son type experiences can end up being some of the most helpful and transformational moments in our lives. Why wait and longer? Forgiveness and restoration are available. You simply have to come to your senses. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville) |
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