him to his fields to feed pigs.^ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were
eating, but no one gave him anything”’ (Luke 15:14-16).
We are now in bondage to other masters, even though we had been born and
brought up in a life of privilege, created as sons and daughters of the Most High
God. Like the rich, honourable son now toiling in harsh labour, we have
squandered our position of sonship and honour, and are now enslaved by a
foreign master. Spiritually speaking, at this point we are enslaved by sin and Satan,
the enemy of our souls, and he is treating us with scorn and hate. For ‘The thief
cometh not but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy’ (John 10.10, King James Version).
It is important to note that this can happen at any step in our sonship. It can happen
because after God created us and gave us life, we reject Him and refuse to serve
Him. It can also happen because, after giving our lives to God in salvation, we
reject His authority over us and turn back to our life of sin. Even at the stage where
we have grown to mature and productive Christians, we could find ourselves
turning away from God if we fail to recognize the deceitfulness of ‘riches, lust of
the eyes and pride of life’ (Mark 4:19). We could lose our sonship. ‘ So, if you think
you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Corinthians 10:12)
But there is good news. The story of the prodigal has a happy ending as Luke
15:17-20 records:
‘“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food
to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to
him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his
father...”’
The prodigal came to his senses. Like mentioned earlier in the previous chapter, at
any point while we are in this life, we can repent of our sins and God will forgive
us. The prodigal remembered the life of privilege, peace and plenty he had lived
and left behind in his father’s house. He knew he had grieved his father deeply,
and would need to humble himself and beg for forgiveness for his father to take
him back. So deeply did he feel his grievous sin that he did not think his father
would accept him back as a son, but perhaps as a servant. He felt even the life of a
servant in his father’s house had greater privilege than where he was now. The