Denton County Living Well Magazine January/February 2018 | Page 36

The Prodigal God T   here’s a familiar story in the Bible known as “The Prodigal Son.” Some- times, especially if you’ve grown up in church, stories can become too famil- iar. I love when God takes something I’ve understood one way and completely turns it on its head! As the story goes, there was a father who had two sons. The younger son came to his father and asked for his inheritance. The father agreed and the son quickly left for the far country where he spent all his money on wild living! About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! He returned home penitently, and while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. The father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. By Michelle Wallace 34 DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 However, the story isn’t finished. The reception infuriates the older brother. And the story ends with the father begging his firstborn to forgive his brother and join the party. As author and pastor Timothy Keller stood to speak about the story behind his book, The Prodigal God, I felt something rise up inside me. “Prodigal God,” I thought!? Fortunately Keller quickly gave the definition according to Merriam-Webster’s Col- legiate Dictionary.