Topic: Avoid the Older Son’s Negative Attitude  [Church of God Mission International] Above Only Daily Devotional 16 September 2021

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Above Only Daily Devotional

By: Archbishop M E Benson Idahosa

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16

Avoid the Older Son’s Negative Attitude

Luke 15:25-30(GNB)

“….the older son was out in the field. On his way back,….he heard the music and dancing. So he…..asked….., ‘what’s going on?” ‘Your brother has come back home ,’…..and your father has killed the prize calf, ….’ The older brother was so angry ….he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. But he spoke….to his father,…,all these years I have worked for you like a slave ,….what have you given me? But this son of yours wasted all your property… and when he comes…, you kill the prize calf for him!

The primary reason the older son was angry had nothing to do with his father’s decision to throw a party for his younger brother. Rather, he was upset because he felt his father had been unfair to him. Although he had worked diligently for his father for years, he was aggrieved because his father had not giving him anything. Apparently, he had been nursing this grudge in his heart against his father and all of a sudden, his younger brother returns home to a party!

The first challenge the older son had was that he did not have a good relationship with his father. He saw and related with his father more like a wicked boss than a loving father. He was not working for his father because he loved his father. He was working for his father because of what he expected to gain. He did not recognise that all his father had belonged to him. This is what maintaining a religious mindset or relating to God based on your effort or your ability to obey the law will do. It will cause you to cut yourself off from God’s love and abundance. His eyes were blind to the things his father was doing for him and he was more focused on the things he felt his father had not done for him. It is much easier to be envious and jealous of others when we feel like God is not being fair to us. The devil can make us feel this way, particularly when our focus is more on our works than on the love and grace of God.

If the elder brother had a good relationship with his father, he would have also developed the same love and passion that his father had for his lost brother. He would have joined his father every day to wait and look out for the return of his younger brother.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father , I love and thank You for all you have done for me because of Christ. Help me join you to save, love, and celebrate others.

Bible In One Year Reading Plan
Isaiah 22:1-24:23, Galatians 2:17-3:9, Psalm 60: 1-12 & Proverbs 23:15-16.