Luke 15:28-30  ²⁸ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’

While many see the younger brother in the story of the Prodigal Son as the one who is lost and in need of forgiveness, the story ends with the older brother more spiritually distant from the Father.  While the younger brother comes to see his need for the Father’s grace, the older brother’s sense of moral superiority and pride blinds him to his own need for the same.  The younger brother is seated at the banquet table, but the older brother completely misses the feast.

The elder brother’s moral behavior did not come from a heart desiring to do the will of God (Ephesians 6:6), but from a heart desiring to control God.

Timothy Keller, in his book, “The Prodigal God,” writes, “If, like the elder brother, you seek to control God through your obedience, then all your morality is just a way to use God to make him give you the things in life you really want.”

Father,  I offer you my everyday life as an offering.  Help me to embrace what You do for me and fix my attention on you.  I want to recognize what You want from me, and quickly respond to it.  I am grateful for all You have given me; help me remember that I am not one who brings any goodness to You.  You bring all goodness to me.  Amen.  (Based on Romans 12:1-3, MSG)