Day 294, or October the 21st. Don't take them
for granted. Our thoughts today are rooted in
Luke chapter 15, verse 29. But he answered his
father, Look, all these years I've been slaving
for you and never disobeyed your orders, yet
you never gave me even a young goat, so I could
celebrate with my friends. And now the big picture
surrounding this verse. We are fast approaching
the final days in the early life of Jesus, and
my Bible's pages are still predominantly red
to remind me that they contain the actual words
of Jesus. They include many of his most beautiful
parables, and perhaps his most famous one, the
prodigal son. This was taught on the east side
of the Jordan, so that when Jesus talks about
a far -off distant land, he would have simply
pointed north to the region of Decapolis, near
the Sea of Galilee, where they bred pigs. If
you recall, Jesus caused a mass suicide leap
in a herd of pigs here, when he drove out evil
spirits from a man and they fled into nearby
pigs. Actually, they still breed pigs in Israel
today, as many Jews do not obey the kosher laws
of the Torah. I never thought I would ever eat
a bacon sandwich in Israel, but I have. And now
the action step for today. The prodigal son parable
tends to concentrate on the son, but the real
star is the father, who loves him so much, he
is willing to forgive him and welcome him back
into the family. Many believe the parable should
be called the forgiving father, as it is such
a wonderful picture of God in heaven, forgiving
his errant children, who finally have the sense
to turn to him in their hour of need. However,
I believe we also have much to learn from the
older brother of the prodigal, the faithful one,
who has continued to do the right thing and feels
aggrieved that his father seems to be taking
him for granted. This is a reminder for all of
us never to take those we love for granted. Don't
follow the father's example or that of the prodigal's
brother. Tell those you love that you love them,
now. Don't keep it a secret.