“Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” (Luke 15:29-32)

     In this parable, the older son definitely had a problem with his father “gushing” over the younger son when he returned home.  You could say that he was jealous or envious, but perhaps even more, he was self-righteous, viewing the younger son as more “sinful” than himself.  This is similar to the Pharisees, who had disdain for Jesus’ welcoming of “sinners.”

     It is too easy to make a quick rush to judgment and compare ourselves to others, but if we consider how wonderful it is when someone who is lost comes to Christ, it is time to celebrate.  We can welcome them with open, loving arms.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I am reminded of how we are all sinners, and I ask that judgment and pride would not stand in my way.  Help me to not make comparisons, but to welcome all who seek you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.