The Parable of the Prodigal Son is also a lesson about the father’s love

Luke 15 contains one of the most beloved stories in all the Bible. We often call it the parable of the prodigal son, but it is as much about the loving father as it is about the wandering boy.

The son demanded his inheritance, left his father’s house and traveled into a far country. There he “wasted his substance with riotous living.” What promised freedom brought bondage. What promised pleasure produced pain. What promised satisfaction left him empty.

That is because sin always overpromises and underdelivers. It will take us farther than we intended to go, keep us longer than we intended to stay and cost us more than we intended to pay.