Luke 15:31

Luke 15:31 – “My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

This verse comes from the story of the ‘Prodigal son.’ We all know this story. You see a father and his two boys. While the older boy is faithfully working the land and helping the father, the younger leaves and squanders his wealth. Because he is gone so long the father is afraid he may have lost his boy, but he always has his eye on the horizon, waiting, just in case.

Finally the boy returns and his father rejoices and throws a huge party. Meanwhile the older son is still out working the fields. When he returns and sees his brother home and the party that was thrown for him he grows angry.

Now the father goes outside to see what is wrong with his older son. The boy tells him that he is upset because he never got a party like the one thrown for his brother. This verse captures his father’s response, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” Basically the father told his oldest son that he could have had a party anytime he wanted.

Sometimes I think we fall into this way of thinking. We have accepted Christ and are welcomed into the kingdom of God as His children. Then we see others walking in the blessings of God and we cry out, “Why not me God?”

We wonder why we are not seeing the blessings in our life. If that’s you, and we've all been there, this verse is for you. God is telling you, “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” As God’s children we have access to all that God has. We just need to receive it by faith.

Think of it this way. You could be in foreclosure on your house and have a million dollars in your bank account. That million will not do you any good until you withdraw it and use it. The same is true with the promises of God. They will not do you any good until you access them through faith.

Luke 15:31-32

Luke 15:31-32 – “’My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

This passage comes out of the story of the prodigal son. We’ve all heard it. It is a story of a father and his two sons. One of the sons comes before his father and asks for his inheritance early. He wants to get it while he is young and can enjoy it. Once he gets it he takes off to spend his money and “enjoy” his life. The other son stays home and works the land and follows in his father’s footsteps. After squandering his wealth the first son finally returns home, humbled and humiliated, seeking forgiveness. When his father sees him he runs to greet him. Then he killed the fattened calf and throws a huge party to rejoice in the fact that his lost son has returned home.  In seeing this, the other son who has been faithful, becomes indignant, because he has been there all along and his father never threw a party like this for him.

We can all relate to both of these sons at times, but as Christians we are now more in the position of the second son. As we live our lives and are faithful to what God has called us to, we see people getting saved all around us. Sometimes we forget how amazing this is when a lost soul returns to God. We see miracles happening all around us and people rejoicing and getting touched by God; all the focus is on those who are new to the kingdom. This is where we need to be careful not to take the position of this second son. We have been faithfully serving and we may feel we should have more recognition and that nobody notices all we have been doing. Then there’s the thing about the miracles. They are happening all around us, why do we not see them in our own life.

In this passage of scripture we get our answer, “You are always with me; everything I have is yours.” We tend to forget that God has brought us in as sons and opened his kingdom to us. We have been given the same authorities in heaven and earth as Jesus had. He told us that all things are possible for him who believes. So if you want a party, have one. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice! If you want a miracle, receive it in Jesus name. Everything going on around you is already yours. All you have to do is ask.