During the Holy Spirit Encounter Conference at Tabernacle of David, Bangalore, there was one session that completely changed the way I saw the familiar story of the Prodigal Son.
Apostle Rambabu’s teaching made me realise that I had been reading Luke 15 through a very limited lens. For most of my life, it was simply the story of a son who sinned, wasted everything, came to his senses, and was forgiven by his father.
But this time, I saw something deeper.
It was not just a story about sin and forgiveness. It was a story about sonship, and about the difference between knowing God as God and knowing Him as Father.
Apostle Rambabu began by drawing our attention to who God is.
Moses, Elijah and Elisha knew God, feared Him, obeyed Him and served Him. But through Jesus, we are invited into something even closer. We are not merely servants trying to approach a distant God. We are invited into a relationship with a Father.
That distinction changed how I read the prodigal son.
The younger son took his inheritance and walked away. He went into a far country, wasted everything and eventually found himself feeding pigs, hungry and alone.
Yet there is something I had never really stopped to consider:
He never stopped being a son.
His behaviour changed. His circumstances changed. His location changed. But his identity had not.
And how often do we do the same? We make mistakes, drift from God, delay obedience or fall into things we are ashamed of, and then assume we no longer belong.
But perhaps we have not lost our identity. Perhaps we have simply lost our direction.
The Pig Sty and the Delay
Luke 15:16 says:
“And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.”
The son was already miserable. He knew he was far from home, yet he stayed. Sometimes, that is us.
We know we need to turn around, but we delay. We know the habit we need to leave, but we negotiate with it. We know God is calling us closer, but the familiar feels easier than the journey home.
The father had not moved. His love had not changed. The door of his home was still open.
The delay belonged to the son.
Sometimes we imagine God is withholding restoration when He may simply be waiting for us to turn.
Then comes the verse that changed everything for me:
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Luke 15:20
The part that struck me was not simply that the father welcomed his son.
It was that he ran.
The son had not reached home. He had not cleaned himself up or proved that he had changed. He had not even finished his rehearsed apology.
But the father saw him.
And ran.
As Apostle Rambabu put it:
“God also runs toward us the moment we turn and run to Him.”
That completely changed how I see God.
I often imagine myself trying to make myself worthy before returning to Him. But Jesus gives us a different picture. The Father is watching the road.
And when we turn towards home, He runs towards us.
“He Wasn’t Rescued. He Was Reinstated.”
The father immediately said:
“Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.”
Luke 15:22
The robe, ring and sandals were not given to a stranger. They were the signs of a son being restored.
Then the father declared:
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Luke 15:24
He did not say, “This former son has returned.”
He said, “This my son.”
The son’s failure had not erased his sonship.
His return was not about earning his place back. It was about coming home to the place that was already his.
Romans 8:15 reminds us that we have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
There is a difference between serving God because we fear His authority and walking with Him because we know we are loved by Him.
How Many of Us Are Still in the Pig Sty?
This is where the story became personal for me.
Where am I still sitting in the pig sty?
Where am I delaying my return?
Where have I allowed shame to keep me somewhere God never asked me to remain?
Where am I trying to fix myself before coming home?
And perhaps the biggest question:
Am I relating to God as God, or as Father?
Sometimes the biggest barrier between us and God is not His distance.
It is our perception of Him.
We imagine Him standing at the door with folded arms, waiting for an explanation.
But Jesus gives us a Father who sees His child from a long way off and runs.
That changes everything.
The Turn Is the Beginning
The son did not have everything figured out when he turned.
He simply realised that home was better than where he was.
And he started walking.
Maybe that is all some of us need to do.
Not solve everything. Not become perfect. Not clean ourselves up first. Just turn.
Because the moment we turn towards the Father, we discover that He has been looking for us all along.
I had always seen the prodigal as the son who ran away. This time, I saw the Father who ran after him.
And suddenly, Luke 15 stopped being just a story about a prodigal son.
It became a story about me, my Father, and the road home.
| Consider This 1. Am I relating to God as a distant authority, or as Father, someone I can confidently come home to? 2. Where am I still sitting in the pig sty, delaying a return I already know I need to make? 3. What would it look like to live from the identity of a son or daughter instead of constantly trying to prove that I am worthy? Sometimes the greatest step of faith is not a giant leap. Sometimes it is simply turning around. And when we do, we may discover that the Father was already running. |
