"Then he said, There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.'” Luke 15:12-12 (The Message)
"Give me." Throughout life, our human nature seems to scream out, "give me!" Our hyperspeed technological society wants everything "right now." We crave the instant gratification of our desires. Our entire culture is set up this way; drive thru windows, ATMs, one hour photos, same day shipping, quick loans, with the click of a button (or a touch screen) we can have access to just about anything and everything. But have you noticed the more quickly you are satisfied, the faster you lose that joy? Instant gratification is almost like a drug. "Quick - give me another fix!"
This condition of the human heart is not new, it goes back all the way to the beginning. In Genesis 3:1-6 we read about how this selfish impatience first appeared;
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The serpent said to the woman (in effect) “Why wait, why follow such restrictive rules? You can have all that you want right now.” The sad irony is that God does want us to become like Him (Eph. 4:24), but not by demanding it or taking it for ourselves. There are no shortcuts to God’s blessings!
I know a man who is a real estate appraiser. He has the unique opportunity to go into people's homes and meet a wide cross section of people in his community. From the seemingly wealthy to struggling laborers, he has seen the consequences of the "quick fix" attitude of instant gratification in some of these homes. (Of course, not all home loan situations are bad.) He has told me of how he witnessed the damage done to families by the "give it to me now" attitude; the abuse of credit cards and easy loans can be devastating. My friend told me that the hardest part of his job is doing an appraisal on a repossessed home where children's toys are still lying around the house. He told me that he can see the despair in some people's eyes as he enters their homes. He listens as they tell him that their home has to appraise for "this much" so that they can pay off their five or six credit cards that are up to the limits. More often than not, the home loan is not enough to cover the credit card and finance company debt.
The Prodigal Son story is just as relevant to the condition of the human heart today as it was over two thousand years ago. The son is saying to his father, "give it to me now! Give me right now, what is going to be mine later." His impatience and demand for instant gratification eventually leads him to a place of utter brokenness and despair (sin always does). Our sinful human natures drive us like that. It's the "when and then" attitude. When I get that promotion, then we will be set. When we get into that new house,then we will have made it. As Christians, we know the only thing humans really need is a gift that is free. Our problem is accepting the gift and using the power of the gift. A relationship with Christ is the craving we really seek; it is a desire that will never be filled by anything or anyone else.
The prodigal had the same attitude. "Father, give me what is mine now, and leave me alone to live my own life!"
Pastor Jeff Frazier
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