A son, not a servant

The son came home hoping to be hired. The father had other plans.

Scripture — Luke 15:22–24 (OTB)

But the father told his servants, “Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him; place a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and slaughter it. Let us eat and celebrate. For this son of mine was as if dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.

Three gifts, one message

Every one of these gifts says the same thing.

The best robe. Covering and honor. The son arrives in the clothes of the pig field, and the father’s first instruction is to cover him with the best thing in the house. Nobody in the village sees the rags.

A ring. A family ring carried the family’s authority. It said this one belongs to us and speaks for us. It is not what you give a hired hand.

Sandals. Servants went barefoot. Sons wore shoes. With one pair of sandals the father settles the question the son came home asking. Not a servant. A son.

And note the word: quickly. The father isn’t making him wait to see if the change sticks. There’s no probation.

So who does the changing?

Here’s the question every returner eventually asks. All right, He’s welcomed me. But I’m still me. I still have the same habits, the same temper, the same weakness. How do I actually change?

This is where most people reach, again, for self-repair: Now that I’m back, I’d better really try this time. And trying harder is exactly what never worked.

Scripture’s answer is that the changing is not your project. It’s God’s, and He does it by His Spirit, from the inside.

Scripture — Ezekiel 36:26–27 (OTB)

I will grant you a renewed heart and instill a fresh spirit within you; I will take away your unyielding heart and provide you with a responsive heart. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My decrees and be careful to observe My laws.

Count who is doing the verbs. I will grant. I will take away. I will put My Spirit within you. I will cause you to follow. God gives the new heart, and God causes the walking in His ways.

Scripture — Philippians 2:13 (OTB)

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.

Even the wanting to obey is His work in you.

The Spirit tells you whose you are

Scripture — Romans 8:15–16 (OTB)

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.

A spirit of slavery leads to fear, the hired-servant life, always wondering whether you’ve done enough. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of adoption. He is the robe and the ring on the inside: the voice in you that says you are His child.

Your part: keep in step

If the Spirit does the changing, what’s left for you? Obedience. Not as a way to earn the house, but as the way a son lives in it.

Scripture — Galatians 5:22–23, 25 (OTB)

For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. … Since we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

The fruit belongs to the Spirit. You can’t manufacture patience or self-control by gritting your teeth, and you don’t have to. Your part is to keep in step: to do the next thing He says, and keep doing it. Then watch what He grows.

That’s the difference between obedience and self-improvement. Self-improvement is you trying to become someone God will accept. Obedience is a child who’s already been accepted, doing what the Father says, and trusting the Father with the results.

Recite this

Sons don’t earn the house. They live in it.

Try it this week

Read a short passage of Jesus’ teaching, like Luke 6:27–36. Ask one question: What is He telling me to do? Pick one thing, the next thing, and do it this week. Not to earn anything. Because you’re His.

Then notice, over the next weeks, what the Spirit starts to change that you couldn’t.

I will obey Jesus by ________________ on ________________, and I will tell ________________.