The Prodigal Son’s Brother

Do you ever feel as though you are doing everything the Lord wants you to do and HE does not seem to notice?

•                     You follow the Ten Commandments.

•                     You strive to live a decent, moral life.

•                     You don’t drink, do drugs, or speak profanity.

•                     You strive to be a good steward of your resources.

•                     You are always generous and helping others.

Yet, you constantly see people who live atrocious, sinful, dreadful lives and appear to be rewarded for it…even blessed?

I have followed the media coverage of celebrities who have made horrible mistakes in their lives, i.e., Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Robert Downey, Jr. and Lindsey Lohan. More recently are Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. They are allowed to “come to their senses”, and appear to be celebrated and blessed.

What about those of us who were obedient?  It almost appears that we are being penalized for doing the right thing.

Reflect on Luke 15:11-32 (NIV), the Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son:

Think about the Prodigal Son’s Brother? He spent his life being obedient to his father. Yet, his younger brother asks for his inheritance so he can go out into the world. His father gives it to him. He leaves to live a life of worldly exploits. He eventually squanders it all. He ends up working in a pig field. He finally comes to his senses and realizes that even his father’s servants live a better life than he does right now in the mud among the swine. He returns home to apologize to his father and agree to be a servant. 

His father sees his approaching and rejoices. The young son tells his father he has sinned against him and does not deserve to be his son. Nevertheless, his father embraces him! He has his servants bring him a robe, a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. He commands that their fattest calf be offered. He orders a feast of celebration.

Needless to say, the older brother is upset and refuses to go to the celebration. When the Father goes to him to ask him to come, he asks him, “Why are you rewarding my younger brother for disobedience? I have been obedient to you the whole time. Yet you never even gave me a young goat or hosted a feast of celebration for me?”

Luke 15:31-32 (NIV) says,“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

How do you keep yourself from feeling bitter like The Prodigal Son’s brother?

A similar instance is revealed when The Lord speaks about the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18:11-14 (NKJV) He says, “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”  

Why would he abandon 99 sheep just to go find one that had strayed? Do you think the 99 sheep were a little upset? 

They may have thought, “Here we are, being obedient, following the Shepherd. Yet, you drop everything to go find that one sheep who has gotten lost. And you rejoice when you find him? What’s up with that?”

What Can We Do To Alleviate our Concerns?  

We must understand a few basic areas of awareness:

The Lord Came to Save the Sinners

We first must understand Matthew 9:13 (KJV) as the Lord proclaimed,“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 

Jesus would not have had to die on the cross if everyone was already righteous and obedient. He died for the sinners to be forgiven. Just as he stated regarding the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18:11 (KJV),“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”

I somewhat relate this to being a child and getting jealous that my parents were focused on my sibling’s bad behavior, and didn’t seem to notice my good behavior. Now, with wisdom, I understand that just because they were focused on correcting the bad behavior, and even celebrating when it became good, did not mean that they didn’t notice, appreciate and actually reward my consistent, good behavior.

Stay In Your Own Lane

We must take our focus on what God appears to being doing in others’ lives, and focus on 100% obedience to HIM in your own life.

God has the creation of the heavens and the earth, and our existence on it as part of HIS Divine Master Plan.  It may not make sense to you, but it makes perfect sense to Our Loving Creator.

Romans 8:28 (KJV) states,“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

We must stop trying to “rationalize” things in our minds. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Maintain or Renew Your Faith:

When we question God regarding issues like this, we have to remember what He said in Matthew 17:20 (NIV), "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) says,“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. “

We have to TRUST Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) says,“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Your Obedience is NOT going Unnoticed:

The Prodigal Son’s Father told his upset, older son in Luke 15:31(NIV)“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’ “

He was trying to explain to his son that his obedience is always recognized and will ultimately be rewarded. 

When we are 100% focused on being obedient to God, He sees it.  He reiterates this in Matthew 6:4 (KJV) “… and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” 

Allow GOD to USE You:

The challenge that we face is to stay focused and remain obedient, no matter what we see or hear.  James 4:10 (KJV) states,“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

God has a divine purpose for your life.  Your life does not belong to you. Jesus Christ paid for your life by His crucifixion on the cross. If we would only surrender and humble ourselves, then this would allow God to use us. He is trying to use your quiet obedience as a public testimony to others.

Don’t get angry or frustrated like The Prodigal Son’s Brother. Stay Faithful and Obedient. It is not going unnoticed by God.  The reward will be amazing!