The "Good and Obedient Son or the Martyr"

Let's continue the story of the Prodigal son. In Luke 15:25-33, we find the older brother hears the sound of music and dancing and asks a servant, "what is happening?" The servant tells him that his father has slaughtered a calf because his brother has returned home.

This angers the brother and he refuses to join in the party. His father comes and pleads with him to come in and celebrate. The son replies, "I have been here day and night working and serving you. And not once did you slaughter a calf for me and my friends.

The father goes on to say, "You have always been with me and what I have is yours, but we must celebrate because your brother has returned."

The message I find in this story is a son who stays with his father because it is safe and it is expected. He doesn't move out of the status quo and have his own experience. He doesn't question, he just stays with what he knows. Now this is neither good or bad, but when the brother becomes resentful, it tells me, he has been out there plowing the fields angry and jealous of his brother. He wishes he could go and do, but no-he is the "responsible one" and stays behind. This is a life not lived.

He also never asked that his dad slaughter a calf. While he was in the Kingdom, he forgets that everything around him is his. He is surrounded by blessings and riches yet, he never partakes of them. He does not ask, he just wishes. He really never is the responsible one, he is the martyr. He is a prisoner in his own mind. He is bound by his own expectations and lives a life of poverty in the land of abundance.

He is here to teach us to live life to the fullest. If you are in a job or even a relationship that you are feeling victimized, ask yourself, "Am I asking for what I need or am I assuming they will read my mind?" If you are asking and are not getting what you require, you may consider leaving and moving on. However, if you are not asking you may want to try it.

Learn to live a life with the words, I choose to be here, I choose to serve here, I choose to work here. This empowers you because you can make another choice. If you believe and say, "I 'have' to be, server, or work here, you are a slave without choices. You are in a self-imposed prison.

Remember, "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open." These are all action words that lead ; to happiness. God designed the world to supply all of our needs, Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly; abundant joy, happiness and peace. If you are not happy, change your thinking. This is our inheritance, Claim It!