The Prodigal Son

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Tinkerlina' post='1707923' date='Nov 22 2008, 03:38 PM']It's a tough one! I understand that the passage is saying that God welcomes back those who repent, but I guess I don't understand exactly what it's saying about those who are doing their best, following what their father/God is asking to the best of their abilities, which as far as we know the other brother was doing. -Katie[/quote]

To put it bluntly: Doing your best, obeying rules, and donig good works [i]without love and grace[/i] are just as good a road to Hell as any.

[quote name='Tinkerlina' post='1707924' date='Nov 22 2008, 03:42 PM']Maybe the passage intentionally leaves us wondering about the other brother, because perhaps a lot of us identify with him and we are supposed to be thinking about how we deal with feeling "unrewarded" or unacknowleged for our efforts-perhas this passage is asking us to work through feeling this way? Just a thought. -Katie[/quote]

Well, if you consider yourself a faithful Christian, he is the one you should be identifying with. We don't know why the older brother was obedient, but we should know why we are faithful to our Father, and there are right and wrong reasons for doing the right thing.

[quote name='Norseman82' post='1707992' date='Nov 22 2008, 06:18 PM']Another possibility is that it is asking us not to take our "good workers" for granted and to pay attention to their needs as well.[/quote]

Good point.