The Other Brother

Do you ever feel like the other brother???


Who am I talking about? 


I am talking about the other brother.  You know, the responsible son.  The one that never got in trouble, never ran away, and never squandered his inheritance. 


I am talking about the brother that never left home-the one that always did what he was told-the one that was there for his Dad. 


You know, the brother of the prodigal son.  The oldest son is barely mentioned in this parable.  He is the son that no one noticed because he was always there; the one that worked hard and treated his father right.  


Luke 15:11-24 (CEB)

¹¹ Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ Then the father divided his estate between them. ¹³ Soon afterward, the younger son gathered everything together and took a trip to a land far away. There, he wasted his wealth through extravagant living.

¹⁴ “When he had used up his resources, a severe food shortage arose in that country and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ He hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to eat his fill from what the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, but I’m starving to death!

¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹  I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me on as one of your hired hands.” ’

²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. ²¹ Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! ²³ Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it. We must celebrate with feasting ²⁴ because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.


The fellow that I am talking about is the older brother-the brother that went unnoticed until the end of the story.  Did you notice how this fellow is pretty much left out, and gets no attention until he gets upset at the attention that his brother receives for coming back home?


Luke 15:25-27 (NIV)

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

And that is what he is known for.  He is known for being angry, sullen, and unhappy.  He is known as the one who was NOT glad to see his brother come home.


Luke 15:28-32 (NIV)

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘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. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² 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.’”

I say to you right now, “How unfair!!!  No one seems to understand how he felt.  No one talks about how he must have felt left out and totally unappreciated. 


I am sure that he would like to have said, “Dad, couldn’t you just tell me one time how proud you are of me, and how glad you are that I stayed with you?”     

And I am sure that he would have been glad to hear his dad say, “Son, you have worked so hard, why don’t you throw a party and kill a fatted calf.  You can invite all your friends and just have a good time.” 


Maybe I am alone in this, but sometimes I feel like that guy and I truly understand how he must have felt.


Right or wrong, he felt left out!!!  He felt overlooked and unappreciated.  When his dad threw the party for his younger brother, he didn’t even have one of the servants go out to the field and bring his eldest son in to celebrate. 


Wouldn’t that make just about anyone feel unappreciated and viewed as less important, of less valuable than the other person? 


I can see how that would make him feel like he had been overlooked-less than he truly was. 

You know, sometimes parents overlook a precious, obedient child because they are too busy having to deal with a younger, unruly child.  And I know that parents are people too, but that just isn’t right!!!

Thank goodness, that Father GOD always sees who we are.  HE sees us just as we are and HE VALUES US!! 


GOD loves us!  HE LOVES US FOREVER AND ALWAYS-just as we are!  HE LOVES US because we are HIS children. 


GOD sees our good points and HE sees our faults, and HE LOVES US ANYWAY. 


I am so thankful that I know HOW MUCH MY FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES ME.  There are times when I have to remind myself that GOD LOVES ME just as I am. 


I KNOW THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR, IF I DIDN’T KNOW THAT MY FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES ME!!!! 


There have been too many lonely places and too many lonely roads.  There have been too many times that I have felt less than I am because I felt unwanted and unloved by those in my life. 


Even when I knew that the lies the devil was telling weren’t true, they FELT TRUE.  And THEY HURT!!!


I have had my share of sorrows, and my share of heartaches, just like everyone else.  And at times, I have let the things that others said bother me even when I knew that I shouldn’t. 


And still God loves me!!!  And still HE gave HIS SON to die for me!!!


So, today, as I was having a pity party and feeling down, it clicked.  What God had been trying to show me clicked. 


You see, Father God had been talking to me about the story of the Prodigal Son.  I even went back and read it again, but I just didn’t get it.


I thought God was showing me how the father in this passage ran to meet the prodigal son.  The father in this passage represents OUR FATHER GOD and how HE loves us so much that HE runs to meet us when we come back to HIM!!! 


You know, when we are lost, that is how GOD responds to us.  HE RUNS TO MEET US WHEN WE FINALLY FIND OUR WAY HOME!!!  


You know, I have a wonderful daddy, but HE IS NOT GOD!!!  Nor can I expect him to be or act like GOD!!! 


Because those that we love are NOT perfect, and because they are NOT GOD, many times they have no idea how we feel.  And because they have a different view of things, they just don’t understand. 


Because they are NOT us, they can’t see how it feels to seemingly be unappreciated.  ONLY someone who has walked in your shoes can understand. 


And we just can’t expect them to understand, but somehow we really want them to.  If they could see a picture movie of what goes on in our lives, then-maybe then-they would understand. 


But in reality, who is going to share all those feelings?  Who wants to endure the looks that would be cast, if folks knew exactly what you felt and just how dark your thoughts get at times?  Who wants to share their inner most thoughts and feelings so that folks can see their souls?


But THANK GOD, OUR FATHER sees and HE knows how we feel.  HE feels our pain, our heartache, and how we feel rejected.  And HE truly does understand.


God wants us to realize how much HE loves us!!!  And how much HE understands what we feel and what we go through.  HE knows!!! 

Hebrews 4:12-13 (KJV)

¹² For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

¹³ Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.


Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, sees and knows ALL.  After all, HE IS THE WORD!!!  Our souls are made bare before HIM. 


Hebrews 4:12-13 (CEV)

¹² What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.

¹³ Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.


And because HE LOVES US SO MUCH, JESUS DIED-so that we could live.


Hebrews 4:14-16 (NCV)

¹⁴ Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has gone into heaven, let us hold on to the faith we have. ¹⁵ For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.


And because GOD knows and because HE loves us so much, HE sent HIS ONE AND ONLY SON to rescue us; to die for us; to redeem us because we are HIS BELOVED!!!  We are HIS KIDS!!!


1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.


No matter who you are, what you have done or how you feel, YOU ARE HIGHLY VALUED BY GOD!!! 


You are NOT a second class citizen.  You are NOT overlooked!!!


And when the devil tells you that you are forgotten or forsaken, tell him that he is a liar.  Tell him to shut his mouth.  Tell him that God loves you. 


You are highly prized, truly appreciated and greatly loved.  You are a child of GOD-A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH.


God reminded me as I wrote this that HE loves us so much and that HE has sought us out.  No one can come to GOD unless HE woes them.  And when we were lost, HE searched for us, just as the woman in the Bible diligently hunted for the coin she had lost.  FATHER GOD values each of us that much.    


Luke 15:8-9 (NIV)

⁸   …suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’