Text: ‘I will arise and go to my father’ – Luke 15:18 Thought: Have you ever completely messed everything up? Jesus taught a parable about the Prodigal Son. It concerned a young man wanting to leave home, who having received his inheritance ahead of time, left for a far country. Away from family and their disapproving looks, he began to spend like there was no tomorrow. He soon attracted new ‘friends’, eager to benefit from such generosity and wasteful living. Life was good for a while, then trouble hit. His bank account ran down until it was empty. Then a severe famine engulfed the area making it almost impossible to survive living off the land. Now in dire straits, he tried to find employment, but jobs were hard to come by in an economic downturn. In desperation he took the only job offered – feeding the pigs. He was so hungry that even the pigs’ food looked appetising. Once the life and soul of the party, he was now forgotten by all those who had enjoyed his carefree living. Sometimes it’s only when we reach rock bottom that we start to look back at where it all went wrong. He thought of home and how even the hired servants...
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Text: ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, loses his own soul, and is himself destroyed or lost? Or what will a man give in exchange for his own soul?’ – Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36, Luke 9:25 (Combined) Thought: Early in 1976 I felt the Lord calling me into fulltime ministry within the church. I had had experience of all aspects of service in the small church I attended, but I wanted to do more. “Have you thought about Bible College?” my minister asked. But what about my career in retailing? I had just received a 25% increase in salary, with the area manager promising to back whatever promotion I applied for. God challenged me with the words, “How much of WHSmith will be in heaven?” The more I prayed about it, the more convinced I became that Bible College was the right thing to do. In fear and trembling I completed the application form, knowing it meant the end of my secular career and a giant step into the unknown as I obeyed the will of God. What’s been the driving force in your life? How much of God features in it? What did you gain? What did it cost you?...
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