Luke 15:13-20 is part of the parable Jesus tells that we usually refer to as “The Prodigal Son.” It says in v.13,
“The younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.”
Jesus tells this parable about a son who demands his inheritance from his father and then goes off and blows it living fast and loose. But when he wakes up one day, broke and all of the “friends” who hung around when the money was flowing long gone, he’s forced to take a job slopping pigs, just hoping to get some of the scraps they eat, unable to fill his own stomach.
And v.17 says, “When he came to his senses.” I don’t think there’s a better description of the initial moments of repentance than that. It’s what we call in Celebrate Recovery “a moment of clarity” or “hitting bottom.” It’s when your eyes open to the fact that things are wrong and have to change.
When your lies have woven a web of deceit that get you thoroughly entangled, and you finally grasp that you have to start living with integrity. When you realize that ignoring God’s standards on sexual intimacy has caused you a lot of avoidable problems. When you recognize that holding that grudge and harboring that resentment toward the person who hurt you is destroying YOU, not them, and is drawing you away from the close relationship with Christ that you want.
That phrase, “When he came to his senses,” reminds us that following Christ—living the way He leads us to live—is not only better for our spiritual walk, but that it’s the sensible, rational, best way to live life. Coming to our senses is a good way to put it when we start to live life based on the truth, and not the lies and rationalizations we use to convince ourselves that doing things our own way is just fine.
And that mindset led the son to true repentance—including an attitude so humble that he was content to just be one of his father’s servants.
The great part about that parable is that the father loves the son so much—despite how the son hurt him—that he offers incredible grace when his son returns. He doesn’t just take him on as a servant; he restores him to his place as his son—and celebrates the fact that he’s back. Just like God does with us.
Lent is a time of repentance, as we look ahead to the sacrifice Jesus made that allowed us to receive God’s grace. As we pray today, let’s take a close look at our life and the areas where we need to “come to our senses,” and pray that God would help us to put aside those things in our life that aren’t the way He would have them to be, and live to follow Him more closely.