The Prodigal Part 1 = Greed

“A certain man had two sons. 12And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.  13And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living".      Lukes 15:11- 13   NKJV

Greed can grip a person rather like a vice grips a piece of wood or metal. Once we allow ourselves to enter into this grip, it is hard to break free. We are not told how the younger son had come to the point of asking for his inheritance. He may have been talking to some friends and this had come up in conversation. It is unlikely that his older brother would have mentioned this because, there seemed to be strain between the two of them. Anyway, he decided to speak to his father about it.

The way that he did this, was nothing more than scandalous. There appeared to be no respect coming from the young son. He may just have well said to his father, 'I don't know when you will die but I can't afford to sit around waiting, so give me what I am entitled to'. And the father did. One thing that strikes me here is that the father appeared not to discuss this through with him; he just did what he was asked. A few days later, the Prodigal set off on his adventure, watched by his father.

Now, I'm not sure that many fathers would have agreed to this without looking into it properly. There were no banks like we have today and the money symbol would have been in cattle or sheep. These would have been sold to the highest bidder so that the father could raise the allowance that was due to his son. No doubt, he would have been knocked down quite a lot and he would not have been paid what the stock was worth.

Once the allowance budget was met, the son would be heading off into the unknown.

We are not told about how the Prodigal came to his decision to leave home. He may have heard stories of how some young people had done this and the thought of it attracted him. His father owned a prosperous farmstead in ancient Palestine and both sons lived with him in their  large farm house. From this, we can assume that some of the workers had sewn in his heart, the idea of going to the 'City' where he could have fun instead of rotting away in the middle of nowhere. The greed began to grow utilising he couldn't contain it and had to be a part.

Greed can cultivate jealousy in the heart and the feeling that it is not fair; others have it, why not me etc? Very soon he would be finding out what it is like, himself.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard.                                

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