POLOKWANE – We all know the story and I won’t go much in details of it.
But I was so fascinated when I read these words: “then he came to his senses and said: ‘how many of my father’s hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father… ‘” (Luke 15: 17 & 18).
Here is a young boy who had annoyed so many people especially his family. His patterns of behaviour shocked many people. His life is in misery and he found himself stuck in a pigsty. But his primary motivation for returning home is an eminently sane and practical one. He is hungry and wants some food. He is lacking the “fuel” that sustains life at its most basic level.
Dear readers, you would agree with me that sin is not much fun when you are dying of starvation. Coming to our senses in a spiritual sense is a very similar experience.
When the world has battered us, only the bread of life can make any difference to this sort of terminal malnutrition. It is worth mentioning, though, to those who are hesitant about whether to leave the pigs or not, that this God who is the sustainer of life is the one who creates the right menu for us.
Coming home to him will not just be survival – it could turn out to be an awful lot of fun. I can easily imagine this young boy, crawling up the road, feeling weak, knees beginning to feel a bit rubbery; and when people ask him about where he is going, he would reply and say “I cannot wait to die of hunger, I am going home to my father, and I know I will get something to eat.”
Brethren! When you feel deep emptiness, dry, lost, weak, disappointed, despondent, discouraged, and hopeless; when divorce is looming, job is lost, abandoned by friends: go home to the Father, He is ready to “fuel” you up!
At least in Him you will eat.
Rev John Mokoena
