After a few days, the
younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country,
and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.
Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country,
and he began to be in need. So he went and worked for
one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were
eating, but no one gave him anything. (Luke 15:13-16)
In
the account of the prodigal son, we see that his first response to crisis was to find employment in a land of famine. We are given a sense of the severity
of the famine by the diet of the pigs. Carob tree pods were an inexpensive,
fattening food commonly fed to pigs. They were also used as a food source by
the poorest people of the land: Pods were cheap to acquire, and useful in
preventing hunger pangs. However, Scripture informs us that the young man was
not even able to get any pods.
What
is our first response to crisis? Often it is to attempt to make our own way—even
if the odds are against us, even if we are transacting in unfamiliar territory,
even if our hunger (literal or figurative) remains, even if our employment stands in direct conflict
with our personal ethic. There is an element of human nature that convinces us we
can make it on our own, but going it alone carries a devastating price tag.
What
a blessing to know that the story did not end there. After a period of time,
the young man came to an epiphany. Wait!
My father has an abundance of food. Though I have squandered my inheritance I
will return to him, apologize, and ask him to let me work in his fields. (Luke
15:17-19, paraphrase mine)
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even God our Savior. (Psalm 68:19)
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