The elder son (2) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

He said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.
Luke 15:29-32

The elder son (2)
Untiring service and obedience characterised the elder son's life, as he thought. But he described his brother's conduct in the worst possible terms. He was angry and jealous that the father had slaughtered the fatted calf for him. He could not share his father's feelings. He thought only of his achievements and the recognition he expected for them. His younger brother's original problem reveals itself as his own: he sought pleasure with friends apart from his father.

He is a type of religious people who lead an honourable life and expect it to be honoured. They imagine that God should accept them for their "good works" that are, in fact, worthless. They do not need His grace and are envious when it is granted to others. Their attitude shows that their religion is an outward show, not a matter of a redeemed heart.

The father deals equally kindly with the elder son: he wished to have him there in his house, experiencing the fellowship and joy. But so long as the elder son does not give up his self-righteous thinking, he must remain outside.

(concluded)

Today's reading: Lamentations 1:12-22 · Psalm 42:7-12