EZEKIEL 33:11
The story of the Prodigal Son caught my attention today and set me thinking why the elder brother was unhappy at his junior brother’s return.
Note that when our hearts are right with God, we always rejoice when a sinner repents, as that is His desire too. It appears that all the older brother’s good works for the father had done little to change his heart. He served, not out of love, but to earn what he felt he deserved – his inheritance. Spiritually speaking, we can never receive anything until we realize that we deserve nothing.
We seem to have many elder brothers in the church of today. They feel good about keeping the rules to earn their way to heaven. They never see the need for sinners to be called back. They are interested in their being blessed by the Father (God)and not on evangelism. Only the poor in spirit will know God and feel His heartbeat for sinners to return home.
