READ: Luke 15:11-24
“Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ” – Deuteronomy 5:16
The prodigal son dishonoured his father greatly by leaving home and not serving in the house. The sin that the prodigal son committed was the sin of not listening, not obeying, not deferring to his father. The elder son, on the other hand, honoured his father. He said, “All these years do I serve thee.” In other words, “All these years I have been subject to you, I have deferred to you, I have obeyed you and I have submitted myself to you.” The elder son honoured his father whilst the younger son dishonoured him.
When you leave home unceremoniously, you dishonour your parents. When you abandon the ministry, it is a sign that you dishonour it. When you walk away from your Godgiven position, it is a sign that you do not value or respect it any more. Your dishonour is seen when you leave and when you despise what you have known for many years. When you sneer at your father and walk away from the lifetime teaching and provision of your father, you are dishonouring him. This is exactly what the prodigal son did. It did not turn out well at all for him. He lost all! He became poor. He became the last and the least.
Many pastors cannot rise and flourish because they dishonoured the house that trained them and raised them up. Ministers who leave their houses are like dwarfs who cannot grow tall! Nothing that they do works. Prodigal sons do not prosper! The prodigal son in the Bible did not prosper and the prodigal sons in the world today equally cannot prosper. It simply does not go well with them.