prodigal son or elder brother?

more insight from do you think i'm beautiful?...

it's easy to identify with the prodigal son. everyone runs away once in a while, everyone's tempted to see what it's like to squander what you have or to use what you have for personal gain, everyone's also yearned for adventure or been curious as to what's in the far and distance land. well, i say "everyone" but maybe i'm just refering to myself. hehe. and it's easy to admit that what you've done was wrong and not the path that our Father had for us because we've lost everything and have hit a dead-end - there's nowhere else to return to but home. we crawl back home and expect to be hired as help than to be accepted with open loving arms. i've been there and i've done that. that's easy to identify with.

but how often have we identified with the elder brother? the one who thought he was so righteous - having abided by the rules for the sake of obeying the rules. the one who never understood the true grace and love that his Father poured out on him and therefore was unable to extend that grace and love to others around him. the one who stayed with his Father all those years but never really truly understood Him or even made an effort to know Him. the one who never realized that all that was his Father's was also his to enjoy. how often do i associate myself with the eler brother? not often enough. do i truly understand the love and grace that my Father pours out on me? or maybe a better question is, do i accept the love and grace that my Father pours out on me? have i really made an honest effort to get to know Him better? regardless that i was the prodigal son having come running home, now that i AM home, have i now become the elder brother? wondering where my blessings are? or where the riches are that i see my Father pouring out to others around me but neglecting me?

Lord, grant me the humility to trust in Your provisions for my life and not to yearn for more but to be thankful for the blessings You have granted me. may i continue to search for the things that move Your heart, that they might also move my heart. Amen.