💡 THOUGHTS FROM ME
I. In Luke 15:11-32 we find what many Bibles call the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.” But the headings in our Bibles aren’t original, and in this case this title isn’t the best one.
The word prodigal means extravagant, lavish, or even wasteful. While the son certainly acts wastefully with his father’s inheritance, the real prodigal in the story is the father.
When the son comes home in shame, the father runs to meet him, embraces him, forgives him, and throws an extravagant feast to celebrate. His response is over the top and far beyond what anyone would expect.
This parable is ultimately not just about a son who ran away but about a father whose love is so lavish that it restores the repentant son, who does not deserve such grace.
The prodigal father in Jesus’ story reminds us of the God who welcomes us home with grace that is abundant, excessive, and freely given.
More than anything, this is a “Parable of the Prodigal Father,” who is lavish and extravagant in his love toward us.
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II. In recent years, our culture has been shaken by a number of newsworthy violent and murderous tragedies. While sin and brokenness have always been with us, I believe part of what we are seeing today comes from a diminished view of hell. If people think there are no eternal consequences, then life feels like it can be lived however one pleases.
Without hell, people may believe they can commit atrocious acts and then simply disappear into nothingness.
This is why I always like to describe God’s wrath as loving. Because God is holy and righteous, his judgment against evil is an expression of his love, and he will not let wickedness go unpunished.
Far from being at odds with his love, God’s wrath flows out of it because his love demands that evil be judged. Jesus himself believed and taught that hell is real, and we should not ignore that reality.
Hell reminds us that our choices matter, that our lives matter, and that the gospel is good news because Jesus bore the punishment we deserved. Heaven and hell are real, and where we spend eternity is determined by our response to Jesus.
📖 BIBLE READING TIP
Did you know the Bible didn’t originally have chapters and verses?
They were added much later (chapters in the 1200s, verses in the 1500s) to make it easier to reference specific places. Since they were added later, the breaks do not always line up perfectly with the author’s thought.
Sometimes a chapter ends right in the middle of a story, or a verse division can make a sentence feel more “standalone” than it was meant to. That does not mean you cannot trust your Bible. It simply means the original writings flowed more like a letter, a poem, or a narrative.
💬 2 HELPFUL QUOTES
I. Voddie Baucham on what to say if someone asks you why you believe the Bible (teaching from 2 Peter 1:16-20):
“Somebody asks why you choose to read the Bible. Instead of saying, that’s how I was raised, or I tried it and it works for me, I prefer to answer, I choose to believe the Bible because it’s a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.
They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin…
Because it’s not necessarily my answer. This is just my succinct communication of Peter’s answer in 2 Peter, chapter 1. I’m just abbreviating and consolidating Peter’s answer.”
II. Andrew Wilson on the difference between Jesus and Satan:
“Jesus: ‘It is written.’
Satan: ‘Is it written?’
Know the difference.”
📚 1 BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
A book about the rise and fall of the American Dynasty created by Cornelius Vanderbilt. At least, that is what the subtitle of the book stated. In reality, it was mostly just about the fall of the American Dynasty.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was one of the wealthiest people the world had ever seen, and I thought this book was going to be mainly a biography about his life and then what happened to the family's money.
However, the book only gave one chapter to Vanderbilt himself (and it wasn't very long), and then spent the rest of the time working through the family tree leading up until today.
It was interesting reading about the family history and how New York City has changed over time; however, that is not what I thought I was going to be reading about. Some of that is on me for not paying better attention to what the book was about. But again, the "rise" part of the book was very short, so I don't think the book delivered on its title.
Because of that, and while it wasn't a bad read, it was not what I was hoping for or thought it would be. Oh, and a clear takeaway: moral character and virtue are much more valuable than money. More money only makes people more miserable. Jesus is better.
6/10
P.S. Should your ducks really be in a row?
