All that I have is Thine

Luke 15:11-32
The prodigal son is a familiar parable for many Christians. Two sons live with and work for their father. The younger son grows weary of the predictable schedule and desires to live independently of the structured life his father provides. He asks for his inheritance money, moves to a distant land, and wastes said money on a wild, party hard lifestyle.
Eventually his funds dwindle away, and a famine comes over the land. He joins the citizenship of that country and becomes a hired hand on a pig farm. No one would share food with him, so his meals consisted of whatever feed the swine would split with him. Realizing he does not have to live in such terrible conditions, he returns home.
His father see’s him coming down the road from afar off, runs to meet him and welcomes him back with joy and love. His father gives him a ring, a robe and plans a feast in honor of his return. The elder son is angered by this and expresses his frustration to his father. The oldest has never transgressed against the father and seemingly the younger son is rewarded for his foolishness.
The father says to his angry child, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”
Forgiveness is a wonderful gift. God’s grace and mercy are things that we should thank Him for every minute of every day. I don’t know of anything greater than being redeemed by the blood of Christ, and having my sin debt reconciled with the Father. If the only thing God did for us was forgive us for our transgressions, He would still be worthy of all our adoration and praise.
However, the Lord does not simply accept our apology and allow us entrance beyond the pearly gates, He wants us to have so much more. Ephesians 3:19 tells us that we should know the love of Christ so we can be filled with FULLNESS of God. The younger son received jewelry, clothing and nice steak dinner, but the oldest was awarded ALL, because “thou art ever with me.”
In a way, we sometimes settle for just redemption. We run from God’s presence, get “right with God”, and then repeat. I wonder if God is eager to give us so much more, but we fail to remain “ever with”, our Father. I wonder how much joy, peace, love, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Gal. 5:22-23) I miss out on because I stray from the side of my Lord and disregard the leading of His Spirit. If we weren’t so busy running back and forth between sin and God, we might be able to enjoy His presence.
As great as salvation is (and it is indescribably incredible), I believe God is so gracious to offer us more than just forgiveness and a ticket to Heaven. He wants to give us an abundant life (John 10:10), through the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ. Stay close to God and break the cycle of sin, repent, repeat, there is so much more to the Christian life!

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