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Hitting rock bottom. At the end of your rope. Less than nothing left. What do all these things have in common? They will happen to someone who is a prodigal.

What is a prodigal? A prodigal is someone who spends wastefully and recklessly. It is a person who has no regard for responsibility, especially financially. A prodigal lives a wild and reckless lifestyle, and will eventually run out of money and hit rock bottom with nothing left.

We see a story about this in Luke 15:11-31. A man had two sons, and the younger son got his inheritance money early and became a prodigal, living the good life and spending all his money on frivolous things. While the word “prodigal” is not written in the text of this story, the idea of being a prodigal is exactly what the younger son does. He finally realizes how wrong he was when he gets a job feeding pigs and is so hungry he’d love to eat their slop!

The idea of being a prodigal goes against what God wants for us and our lives. Jesus warns us that we cannot love money while also claiming to love God. In Matthew 6:24 He says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” If a person has the attitude of a reckless prodigal, he or she is serving money and not God.

In Proverbs 21:5 we read, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Being diligent is the opposite of being a prodigal. Diligence leads to being profitable, whereas being a prodigal and being hasty with money leads to poverty and having nothing left.

The idea of being a prodigal does not have to only involve money. A person can be a prodigal with anything that they recklessly waste. Think about your life. What are you doing with the gifts and material things that God has given you? Are you being a prodigal and recklessly wasting them, only to find yourself in a moment where you feel like you have hit rock bottom? Or are you embracing what God has given and using those gifts wisely?

Fortunately for the son in the story of Luke 15, his father was watching and waiting for him to return. There is forgiveness for having prodigal actions! This prodigal son was not only allowed to come back in the house, but he was given a party and the royal treatment so to speak.

Think about where you stand as a prodigal or not this week as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday here in America. Thankfully, when we do have prodigal tendencies, we can always be thankful that God is there to welcome us back home, with open arms!