There are many things and relationships that are competing for our love and devotion, and there can only be one winner. Love is competitive, consuming compelling and consequential. We must be careful to "keep yourselves in the love of God" Jude 21.

The older son comes in from the work to find that his younger, prodigal son has returned and the father has thrown an elaborate party in his honor. The older son is furious. Though the younger son's sin is more heinous, the older son's sin can be more perilous. Do we act like the older son?

Sitting in a pig pen, starving, penniless, and friendless, the runaway son is shaken by a sudden awareness of where he is, what he is doing and how good his father is. He then leaves the pen and heads for home to be welcomed by his waiting father.

The young son of a loving father decides he will leave his father's house, take his inheritance and go to a far country and live his life his way. He finds himself broke, friendless and starving. He is faced with a decision. He remembers how good his father is and decides to leave his mess and go back to the father