‘Give Me’

‘Give Me’

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.

Luke 15:12

We come to consider, for the next few days, what may be, for some, a very familiar story. Christ employed it in His teaching to both instruct, and convict. He tells the story of a gracious father who has two sons, the younger of whom approaches him with the words of our text for today, ‘And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” So he divided to them his livelihood.’ Here we find the epitome of selfishness, and the antithesis of Christ-likeness.  The summary of it lies in the words, ‘give me.’ All sin exhibits the characteristic of selfishness. Cast an eye over the Ten Commandments and it is very apparent that very breaking of the Law of God involves some display of selfish behavior, and is the product of selfish thinking. This lad was preeminently all about himself. By contrast, we behold Christ. Christ is the Utterly Selfless One. His will is to do the Will of His Father. His work is to ‘be about His Father’s business,’ and ‘ to finish His Work.’ His complete fulfillment of the Law of God in precept by His Perfect Active Obedience, demonstrates His absolute Selflessness. Beyond that, He further demonstrates His Selflessness by His Perfect Passive Obedience by His Sacrifice on the cross.  That He did so for the sake of others, further underscores the fact of His Selflessness. Let us take some time today to observe the selfish behavior of this young man, and to contrast it with the selfless behavior of Christ.

Our Utterly Selfless Savior,
We praise You that You are the Great Pattern
for us who believe in You.
We rejoice that Your behavior provides for us the Divine Template
for how we think and what we do.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning