And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.”—Luke 15:11-13


The details vary, but prodigals usually follow the same script outline. They reject their environment, often with uncontrolled carelessness. The Prodigal went wild and “squandered his inheritance with reckless living” (v.13). Eventually, he got to the end of his rope and his resources. He “came to himself” (v.17). He couldn’t fix his past or his problems. His change of environment had only helped to reveal the real problem—him. He had a heart problem. He had to change!