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Return of the prodigal son Luke 15:20-24<\/p><\/div>\n
First, the son decides to leave home and travel to a far country. At this stage in the story, he is driven by his headstrong, pleasure-seeking mentality.<\/p>\n
In time, circumstances change. The son, who was rich, now has nothing. He who enjoyed life is now miserable. And so he turns his thoughts–and his feet–toward home!<\/p>\n
When he had left home, his father chose to let him. He gave him what he demanded-his share of the inheritance-and watched him go. This represents God’s giving us free will and allowing us to make choices that He knows are not good. But He will not prevent us from doing as we please if we desire. And He hopes we will, like the Prodigal, grow weary of our ways and return to the Father.<\/p>\n
The father’s second choice is to give his returning son a huge welcome-robe, ring, shoes, calf, party-the whole shebang. God lavishes His grace on us not because we deserve it-we don’t-but because He loves us. It is God’s choice to do this. He is not obligated. He wants to.<\/p>\n
The son’s choice to leave home is met with the father’s choice to let him go. The son’s choice to return is met with the father’s choice to warmly welcome him.<\/p>\n
In this parable, Jesus shows us ourselves, and He shows us our Father. In a real sense, our choices determine the Father’s choices. Yes, He will let us go if we leave. But oh, how He will embrace us when we choose to come home!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by David Gibson Notably, the Prodigal Son makes two choices, and his father makes two choices (Luke 15:11-32). First, the son decides to leave home and travel to a far country. At this stage in the story, he is driven by his headstrong, pleasure-seeking mentality. In time, circumstances change. The son, who was rich, now…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1644,426],"class_list":["post-83472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-choice","tag-free-will"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61610,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-did-the-prodigal-sons-father-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":83472,"position":0},"title":"What did the prodigal son’s father do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am curious about the parable of the \"prodigal son\", probably one of the best-known of all parables. Nothing is said about what the father does or does not do after his son leaves and goes to a far country. He seems very comfortable with giving his son his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-elder-brother-of-the-prodigal-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":83472,"position":1},"title":"The Elder Brother of the Prodigal Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Myhan Many people fail to realize that the third parable of Jesus recorded in Luke chapter 15, is nowhere, in the inspired text, called \"the Parable of the Prodigal Son.\" In fact, the parable is given no name either by Jesus or by Luke. A more accurate designation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20867,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-parable-of-the-prodigal-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":83472,"position":2},"title":"The Parable of the Prodigal Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Fancher I. The Prodigal Son Leaving Was His Fault Alone Luke 15:20-21 \"And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53495,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-parable-of-the-prodigal-son-solely-about-gods-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":83472,"position":3},"title":"Is the Parable of the Prodigal Son solely about God’s grace?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you please speak on the parable of the prodigal son? I had a family member who has been in Christ's church her whole life saying that repentance has nothing to do with this parable. She focuses solely on the father's loving compassion as being the whole point of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-a-loved-one-is-making-a-terrible-mistake\/","url_meta":{"origin":83472,"position":4},"title":"When a Loved One Is Making a Terrible Mistake","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Heath Rogers What are we to do when a loved one is making a terrible mistake? We often feel helpless as we must stand on the sidelines and watch the approaching disaster unfold before our eyes. Is there anything we can do? Does the Bible offer guidance in such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/those-who-will-give-an-account\/","url_meta":{"origin":83472,"position":5},"title":"Those Who Will Give an Account","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you\" (Hebrews 13:17). Most recognize the quote from Hebrews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}