The son realized that he had been very foolish. He thought, ‘All my father’s hired workers have plenty of food. But here I am, almost dead because I have nothing to eat. I will leave and go to my father…’ – Luke 15:17-18 (ERV).
REFERENCE
Luke 15:11-24
Luke 15:11-24
Today, we will learn from the story of the Prodigal Son, because like many of us, he also had a goal for his life – financial freedom, he prayed to his ‘father’, he embarked on a journey (into the year), after a while, he realized he wasn’t where he prayed, planned, desired to be, then he began a process of self-appraisal and a turn around to redeem his situation. Everything started by him sitting down to take stock and asking himself some tough questions. We can relate with his story because we also set goals for the year that sometimes don’t materialize; so taking a cue from the story, we also want to appraise ourselves by asking questions that will redeem our situations like they did for him.
The first question on the list is ‘Where were you at the beginning of last year? – Where were you in your relationship with God? Where were you in your marriage, your income, your marital status, your career, what was the size of your clientele? Etc.
After you have identified where you were at the start of the year, we can then move onto the second question of ‘What goals did you set out to achieve?’ – What did God place in your heart to do? Spiritually (spending time in prayer and the word), maritally (to get married/more intimacy with spouse), economically (start your own business/gaining financial independence), physically (weight loss/healthy living), service to God (joining a service group in church), etc.?
After you have identified where you were at the start of the year, we can then move onto the second question of ‘What goals did you set out to achieve?’ – What did God place in your heart to do? Spiritually (spending time in prayer and the word), maritally (to get married/more intimacy with spouse), economically (start your own business/gaining financial independence), physically (weight loss/healthy living), service to God (joining a service group in church), etc.?
Thirdly, you want to ask, ‘Where am I now? – You have to be honest with yourself. What have you done with all the messages you heard last year? Is your marriage increasing in love? Did you get married? Are you more excellent than you were last year? Have you lost weight? Have you started working on the idea God gave you? Did you read all the books you intended to read? How close to or how far from your desires, resolutions and commitments are you? The Prodigal Son was definitely far from financial freedom. He was a servant in a pig house. He was broke and hungry. He was worse off than when he began.
(Continues tomorrow).
(Continues tomorrow).
Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday!
ADDITIONAL STUDY
Psalm 90:12 and Philippians 3:13-14.
Psalm 90:12 and Philippians 3:13-14.
PRAYER POINT
Ask God to give you understanding on the brevity of life, so you can apply your heart to wisdom and pursue your dreams purposefully.
Ask God to give you understanding on the brevity of life, so you can apply your heart to wisdom and pursue your dreams purposefully.
