The story of the prodigal son has intrigued me for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I assumed that “prodigal” meant to return, the prodigal son was the one who returned to his father. I had it wrong: prodigal means to be wasteful or extravagant, as was the son in the Bible story. Then I thought that to be prodigal meant to live a lavish, decadent life. And finally, I came to realize that we are all prodigal. None of us escapes the human experience.
Whether you are looking in a mirror or through a window, whoever you see is prodigal in some way. All of us waste time, talent, resources, health, opportunities and moments. The Bible has a lot to say about wasting what we have been blessed with. We are to use our gifts, large and small, for good. To begin with, they are not ours in the sense that we have anything to do with them other than being responsible to them. To not be responsible is to be wasteful, to be prodigal.
Spend a few minutes with pen and paper and start noting all the gifts and blessings you have been provided: talent, loved ones, loved by others, health, life, roof over your head, free will, a job…the more you examine your life, the more gifts you will find. None of them are to be wasted.
The great American runner, Steve Prefontaine, famously said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
I think the potential for being prodigal creates two major responsibilities for all of us: 1. To honestly assess all the gifts and blessings we have, and be intentional about not wasting them, and 2. Help others recognize and maximize their gifts and blessings. The latter has implications to our roles as parents, teachers, mentors, spouses, coaches, leaders, managers…human beings. Whether actively helping someone tap into their gifts or simply complimenting someone on something they did well, we are constantly given the chance to help others to not waste what they have been blessed with.
None of us will ever completely lose our tendency to being wasteful of what we have been given by our Father, which is why, of course, that Jesus shared the story; likewise, we all have the opportunity, and responsibility, to repent for our wastefulness and return to our Father. We will be welcomed with open arms.