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Greetings! We will be returning to our sin recovery principles in the coming days!

I just wanted to share the top three most downloaded devotional thoughts from the last 12 months. I must say I could not have predicted the ones you enjoyed the most even if I tried. Enjoy! Thank you for tuning in each day and sharing the Message.

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Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Tuesday, June 7, 2016 (Repeat of Tuesday, May 19, 2015)

Based Upon Luke 15:25–32

In today’s devotional thought, we continue to unpack the parable of lost things in Luke 15. For the past two days we discovered that our God loves us so much that whether we are humble people who know we are lost and need a Savior, or people whose pride blinds us to the fact that we need Him, He loves us equally, and will stop at nothing to recover us. We briefly highlighted the joy and rejoicing of heaven over one person who repents. Yesterday, our focus to illustrate these points was the Prodigal Son who proudly demanded his inheritance, wasted it all on foolish worldly trappings, and had a spiritual awakening that drove him home into the arms and acceptance of his loving father who gave all in order to restore him.

Usually, this parable is only expounded to the climax of the Prodigal’s return, and as an afterthought, the remaining few verses about the elder son’s temper tantrum are quickly glossed over before we break for closing prayer. However, I will remind you that at the beginning of this story, Inspiration makes certain to identify the two groups of people—proud Pharisees and dependent sinners. Two symbols are also employed: There was identified the lost sheep that wandered away from home and knew it was lost, and the lost coin that never left the house, yet was still lost. I want to share a seldom-discussed secret with you: The lost sheep was a symbol of the prodigals of this world who boldly turn their backs on God and waste themselves in worldly pursuits. These are sinners who many times rush out into doing evil, but often also are brought to see the error of their ways and repent. The lost coin was a symbol of proud Pharisees who profess to have done everything that the Lord required, but whose lives lack compassion for others, especially lowly so-called sinners. While they hover around the proverbial house to save face, their hearts are far from the father of that house.

Before we tie a bow on the parable of Luke 15, let’s look at a related parable: “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard. And he answered, I will not; but afterward he changed his mind and went. Then the man came to the second and said the same [thing]. And he replied, I will [go], sir; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of the father? They replied, The first one. Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the harlots will get into the kingdom of heaven before you. For John came to you walking in the way of an upright man in right standing with God, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots did believe him; and you, even when you saw that, did not afterward change your minds and believe him [adhere to, trust in, and rely on what he told you].” (Matthew 21:28–32, AMP). The Prodigal Son is here illustrated as the one who told his father he would not go but eventually did his father’s will. So, who is the son that boldly professed his fidelity, but ultimately did not obey?

Now, back to the remaining part of Luke 15’s parable: “Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him....