And He said, "A
man had two sons. "The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give
me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between
them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and
went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate
with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred
in that country, and he began to be impoverished… 'I will get up and go to my
father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in
your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your
hired men."' So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a
long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and
embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:11-20)
A bit of levity for a summer day…
Rev. W. O. Taylor, 91, was the
oldest man attending the Southern Baptist Convention a few years ago. At the
annual free breakfast for retirees, Brother Taylor rose and recited his own
alliterative version of the parable of the prodigal son, which he entitled
"The Final Fixing of the Foolish Fugitive":
"Feeling footloose, fancy-free, and frisky, this feather-brained
fellow finagled his fond father into forking over his fortune. Forthwith, he
fled for foreign fields and frittered his farthings feasting fabulously with
fair-weather friends.
Finally, facing famine, and fleeced by his fellows in folly, he found
himself a feed flinger in a filthy farm lot. He fain would have filled his
frame with foraged food from the fodder fragments.
"'Fooey! My father's flunkies fare far fancier,' the frazzled
fugitive fumed feverishly, frankly facing fact.
"Frustrated from failure and filled with forebodings, he fled for
his family.
"Falling at his father's feet, he floundered forlornly. 'Father, I
have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited further family favors. . .'
"But the faithful father, forestalling further flinching,
frantically flagged his flunkies to fetch forth the finest fatling and fix a
feast.
"But the fugitive's fault-finding frater, faithfully farming his
father's fields for free, frowned at this fickle forgiveness of former
falderal. His fury flashed, but fussing was futile.
"His foresighted father figured, 'Such filial fidelity is fine, but
what forbids fervent festivities? The fugitive is found! Unfurl the flags!
With fanfare flaring, let fun, frolic, and frivolity flow freely, former
failures forgotten and folly forsaken. Forgiveness forms a firm foundation for
future fortitude.'"
Scripture to
Claim:
A
joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
(Proverbs 17:22)
