Luke 15:11-24
"And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants, And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And he son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."

This is a familiar passage to most people. Even folks who have never been to church are many times familiar with the story of the prodical son. There are some truths in this parable about salvation and our relationship to Christ that many overlook however.

The first thing that we see in this parable is a son who takes his father's provision for granted. He takes what he can get and then willingly leaves the presence of his father and wastes what has been given to him with "riotous living."

There are many Christians who accept the blessings that God has given them but then with no thought to how much they owe Christ, they live just like the world. They take talents that God has given them, and instead of glorifying Christ, they waste them on things that are ungodly.

The problem with this lifestyle is that not only is it wrong, but there isn't anybody more miserable than a backslidden Christian. I heard a preacher say once that you could know if you were a sheep because "you no longer like the mud, and the shepherd won't leave you alone." Yes, even being saved you do still a sin nature, but the Holy Spirit will not let you live a sinful lifestyle and be happy with it.

The second thing I would like to point out is even when he rebelled, even at the point he reached the absolute low, he was still his father's son. "And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare."

You know there are many Christians who believe that when you backslide, you lose your salvation. The problem with this belief is that they don't take into consideration that when you get saved you are not just adopted into the family of Christ.

John 3:7
"Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."

Salvation is not an adoption, it is a birth. When you get saved, you are born into the family of Christ. If it were possible for me to disappoint my dad so much that he would say that I was no longer his son, that would not change the fact that I am. It is a biological fact that cannot be changed. In the same way, when you get saved you are born into the family of God. You might backslide and even tell someone if asked that, no, you are not a child of God. But, it doesn't make a bit of difference what you say, because of your birth, you are a child of God whether you recognize the fact or not. The closeness of your relationship does not effect the reality of your birth.

Third, we see where the son decides to return to the father, but feels he is no longer worthy to be called a son, and just wishes to be taken as a servant. The father however refuses to take him as a servant and forgives him completely. He has the servants bring him a robe, ring, and shoes. He dresses him up to look like a son. He kills the fatted calf and declares a celebration. He treats him as a son.

It is the same in our Christian life. You may have sinned and feel so unworthy to even confess your sins to Christ. Maybe it is something that you have done over and over, and although you confessed it before, here you are again, and you feel ashamed to come before Christ again with this. You need to realize two things.

First, Jesus already knows about it. He is just waiting for you to come before him and confess it. Jesus knows about it, and yet he still loves you. Just like the father in this parable was watching for the return of the son, and saw him afar off, Jesus is watching for you and waiting for you to come back to him.

Second, yes, you are unworthy to even confess your sins to him again. But, you were unworthy when you got saved as well. We are all unworthy of every good thing Christ has given us. We were unworthy of the sacrifice he made for us. We are not even worthy to pray and expect Christ to listen to us. Thankfully, our worth is not the issue. If you confess your sins he "is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

So does this mean it is just fine to sin, since we can get forgiveness for it. No. There is one other thing we do see in this story that I don't believe I've ever heard anybody mention before. After the other son comes in from the field and gets angry about the father treating the prodical son so well, the father makes the statement, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."

The father did forgive his son completely. He accepted him back. He was once again providing for him. But what was wasted could not be recovered. The younger son would still suffer some consequences of his decisions. These were not consequences put on him by the father, they were just realities of him reaping what he sowed.

So remember, if you are backslidden and reading this, Jesus waits for you to come home. He will forgive you completely. But also remember, if you sow wild oats, you will also reap wild oats. Most of the time you tend to reap much more than you sowed.

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