October 19

The Far Country

Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ — Luke 15:17-19 BSB

We don’t have to travel far to reach the “far country”—a sinful thought, a passionate desire, or even a fleeting glance can take us as far from God as the east is from the west. The essence of the far country is selfishness. Notice the prodigal’s focus on himself: “Give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” It’s not wrong to enjoy God’s good and perfect gifts, as long as we hold them with gratitude and in fellowship with Him. But when we depart from God, there is waste because we lose the one true purpose that gathers all our activities into focus. There is riot because, without God, we lack the power to control our strong passions. There is want because the soul is made for God and cannot be satisfied until it rests in Him.

How foolish it is for someone to sever themselves from God and bind themselves to a citizen of the land of forgetfulness! The people of this world have nothing to offer the starving soul but to send it to feed the swine, which represent the lower desires of our nature. This is the path that many offer: “Enjoy life, indulge in pleasure, fill the hours with revelry and amusement.” But the hunger of the soul cannot be satisfied by such things. Husks may feed swine, but they cannot nourish the sons and daughters of God. Like the wise man said, “He has set eternity in our hearts—vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” We cannot find rest in what satisfies others. From the swine troughs, we yearn for the food that the servants enjoy in our Father’s house; from the stagnant pools, we thirst for the crystal water.

It is in these moments that we come to ourselves and return to our Father. Let us believe in the love of our Father, who yearns for us in our absence, who sees us from afar, and who runs to welcome us back with forgiveness and restoration.

Prayer

You know, O Lord, what I need most; help me, and from the treasury of Your goodness, supply my needy soul. Amen.