Luke 15:31-32 — And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

There are stories in the Bible, especially the parables of Jesus, that have two special features for me. They have layer upon layer. And they could be finished in many different ways. The Master tells them for a reason — he makes his obvious point, but He leaves the story in our minds to keep on teaching us, to teach us the main point. As long as we let them, the stories keep on teaching us … And last night, and in my quiet time this morning, the story of the Prodigal Son had two lessons for me that I hadn’t learned before.
The first lesson was about knowing, appreciating and enjoying what we have in life. The father said to the older brother, “Look, you’ve been here all the time. If you wanted a party you just had to say. In fact there’s nothing round here that you can’t have. You just have to ask.” Does that sound familiar? It should — “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”(James 1:5) There is so much that is accessible to us if only we would ask. In fact there is nothing good for us that God won’t give us. You can fund that promise in His word too — “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)
The second lesson the story of the Prodigal Son taught me was about me was about law and grace — holding on to grudges and letting go. The father says to the elder son, “look, partying is the right thing to do right now.” What does his son decide? We don’t know. Does he decide to join his father, give his prodigal brother grace, and join the party? Does he decide to stay outside, insist on the letter of the law (as he sees it), and sulk outside? We’ll never know. But I think this is where the main point of the story lies. Remember the context. Jesus was making His point to the Pharisees … the legalists of His day. He so much wanted them to get the point of grace.
So don’t resent what you haven’t got. Ask God for it. If it’s good for you, He’ll provide it. And don’t hold grudges. Grace is good.
You know what’s scary? I don’t know why these thoughts came to me just now. What good thing have I not asked for? What grudge am I clinging too? I don’t know. If you do, please let me know!