UPad is a very nice handwriting app. I’ve tried several. I find this app’s accuracy in reproducing strokes to be fantastic! (Some over-smooth, while others introduce noise when magnified.) Not only that, but this app has some fantastic highlighters as well.

The workflow is simple:

During a sermon, it’s easier to write notes with a stylus, as opposed to typing them with a keyboard — you’re better able to focus on the speaker. UPad’s Photo-Editing Mode allows writing on a photo. In the image above, my photo was simply a screen-grabbed page from my favorite Bible app. I enjoy using this workflow with the BibleReader app, but this same method could be used with any reading app that produces a page — Kindle, Inkling, InstaPaper, etc …

Advantages to this approach.

• Free to Capture Thoughts without Wording Sentences

Because your writing paper has been created from a simple screen-grabbed image, there’s a greater freedom to jot down the main ideas — not worrying about a final draft of your note. The final version can be edited later in the Bible app.

• Better focus on the speaker.

Typing on an iPad requires a certain amount of concentration; with extra time allotted for correcting errors. When typing, you tend to lose focus on the speaker. Writing is second-nature — and better attention can be given to the sermon.

• Notes are now sharable.

Because your notes can be output as either an image (PNG) or document (PDF) format, they are easily shareable. Email, Facebook, Twitter, etc … are possible forms of sharing.

• Final Electronic Version of Notes are Better Organized/Worded.

After the lecture is over, one can step back and review the sermon as a whole. Extra time can be given to editing the final electronic version of notes, and their organization (wording and applied tags) in the Bible app software.

Disadvantages to this approach.

• Does Not Work When Jumping From Book to Book

Right now, UPad does not offer any “append” operation to the Photo-Editing Mode that we’re using for this technique. I have emailed a request to be able to “append” to an existing photo-editing document. We’ll see what the developer says.

• Requires Post-Sermon Time to Enter Electronic Version of Notes

This is not a big deal for me. But we do not want to lose the advantages of electronic versions of notes (search retrieval, collecting similar topical notes, etc … ) Thus, a little more time is necessary if you follow through with electronic data entry.

Vectorized Strokes.

I was tempted to list this in the advantages section above, although it’s not really an advantage in methodology. It is a nice feature though! Because UPad’s strokes are vectorized, you may magnify them as large as you like, they’re never get pixelated! Therefore you can write as small as you like, magnification can be done while writing the note, as well as in a PDF, after the note is been created.

After exporting notes as PDF, and cropping a 200% magnified page, pixelation occurs in the background images — but handwritten notes display smooth strokes. Zooming the page is possible in UPad before the notes are written as well. This allows notes to be fit into space beside the scripture being commnented about.

Room for Improvement

Right now, UPad’s Photo-Editing Mode that’s key to this workflow only allows one image to defined in the document. I have requested the developer to consider “appending” another photo to the end of the document. This would allow a “book” to be created from the photographed “pages.” I have received a reply that my request is being considered. If you also enjoy this feature, you may want to drop an email to the developer as well.

Thanks for reading.

Be sure to click on “Full Screen” above, and maximize your browser to full size to see clearest images possible!

Consider this short article a welcome to share your views in the comment thread below.

Assumptions:

• The Bible is true.
• Mankind has a serious separation-from-God problem. That problem started in the Garden of Eden with the rebellion of man in disobeying God. As a result, our nature has become one that goes against God as evident by our continued natural behavior today.

(1). An Important Issue to Consider:

Are we made right in the sight of God from accepting some a set of spiritual truths? Are we adopted into the family of God based on mentally understanding and agreeing with a crucial set of beliefs? If someone has a correct understanding of Biblical teachings, is this all that is required in order to enter into the presence of God after death?

–or–

Can someone, who even believe correct doctrine, not meet the requirements of God necessary to enter heaven?

(2) Supporting your opinion.

If accepting correct beliefs alone is all that is required, what scriptures can you find that support this view?

If accepting correct beliefs alone are not all that is required, what scripturs can you find that support this view?

Diane and I wish to extend a very special thanks to the Soul Surfer Screening Team for their special invite preview this fantastic movie ahead of it’s scheduled release date. This was quite a treat. Here’s a trailer.

Many of those warm-and-fuzzy movies claiming to be “based on a true story,” are only loosely accurate at best. In regards to this move, a quick check of Bethany’s biography on Wikipedia, and, after viewing actual footage over the years of Bethany’s life during the closing credits of the movie, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the move is remarkably accurate to the actual story. No embellishing was needed — plain and simple, the story is just that incredible!

While searching through many related YouTube videos, I ran across one that I just had to include in this post. During this interview, consistent with her story, Bethany attributes her success to Christ, and shares that the greatest thing we can do in life is to reach out to others in love.

I hope you’re getting excited to celebrate all that life can be when freedom is found in the power to give your life away for the sake of reaching out to others. That’s exactly what this movie is all about!

Soul Surfer /sohl serf-er/ – noun; 1. A term coined in the 1970s, used to describe a talented surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of it. Although they may still enter competitions, a Soul Surfer’s motives go beyond winning.

Take the time to write a quick comment and let me know what you think.

Truly, Mrs. Florene Baker, affectionately called “Mommy” by her children, lived life to the full in a way that touched us all; her family and many friends miss her dearly.

The Mississippi Senate Adjourned in Memory of Mrs Florene Baker.

Day Five

The True Heart of the Elder Son Revealed

Don’t miss the real reason for the elder brother’s intense displeasure. As we will see in the chapter that follows, all this pouting fury was not so much aimed against the prodigal son. Instead, it was focused directly against the father. The first born son clearly had no affection for his younger brother, but the father was one he most resented.

He could tell from the servant’s report that his father had made peace with the prodigal. The father had not only “received him safe and sound,” but he had “kill the fat dead calf,” too (v. 27). The meaning of such a gesture was clear. The father had already fully forgiven the wayward boy, and their reconciliation was complete.

Worst of all, the father was spending resources that would rightfully belong to the elder brother as soon as a father died – in effect, diminishing the value of the “faithful” son’s inheritance.

The elder brother was every bit as self-seeking and devoid of a true appreciation for the father as the prodigal son was at the beginning of the parable.

This elder son didn’t care at all about the father’s joy. All he cared about was his own rights and possessions. The elder brother was every bit as self-seeking and devoid of a true appreciation for the father as the prodigal son was at the beginning of the parable.

But, for the first time in the story, the Pharisees were saying to themselves, Yes! That is exactly the right attitude! That is precisely what any self-respecting person ought to feel. He is right to be outraged. We are outraged. This whole story has described one atrocity after another, and it’s about time someone in the story spoke up and said so.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

- Luke, chaper fifteen, verses one and two, ESV

This is an exact mirror of the real life situation we saw at the very beginning of the chapter, noted above. The scribes and Pharisees remained outside the celebration. They resented it. They were outraged by it. It was a scandal and an affront to their dignity.

Read the following:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. … And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

- John, chaper one, veses 14, 16, and 17, ESV

Fill in the blanks with words you think best complete the following statement.



The Pharisees resented Jesus so deeply because he was all about
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In contrast, the Pharisees themselves were they were all about
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The elder son is a perfect emblem for the Pharisees. He had no appreciation for grace because he thought he didn’t need it. As we shall soon observe, he figured he had earned his father’s full approval without needing any special grace or mercy. If he didn’t need grace, and had never even thought to ask for any, he didn’t see why grace should be offered to anyone else. The truth is, he didn’t really even believe in grace. He had no concept of unmerited favor. The very idea of free forgiveness was repugnant to him.

That was precisely the spiritual state of the scribes and Pharisees who criticize Jesus for consorting with sinners. It was exactly the kind of self obsession and egocentric religious fervor their system fostered. Jesus likened them to fancy burial vaults – bright and shiny on the outside, but full of death and decay on the inside (Matthew 23:27). They were religious hypocrites who stayed near the house of God for the sake of their own public image. But they secretly enjoyed all the same evil things as any unbeliever.

Even all the Pharisees’ religious activity was really only about their own self-promotion. They may have truly thought that they were earning the good will of God. But the truth is that they were completely alienated from God. They had no sincere desire to honor Him. They had no vital interest in heaven’s joy – in fact, they could not even tolerate that joy because it was joy over the repentance of sinners, and they refuse to confess their own need for repentance. So they openly spurned the joy, and they deeply resented those who did repent.

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Read the following and Underline the Pharisees motives for their religious activities.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

- Matthew chapter six, verse one, ESV

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

Matthew chapter six, verse five, ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

Matthew chapter six, verse sixteen, ESV

As Jesus continued with the parable and the Pharisees began to recognize themselves in the elder brother, they’re murmured expressions of displeasure must have begun to rise in the deafening crescendo. The lesson the Lord had been laying the groundwork for, from the start of the parable, was about to become very, very clear – and by now they might even see it coming.

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Day Four

A Boycott Only a Pharisee Could Appreciate

If this son’s heart were right, the text would say, “He ran to the house to see what all the joy was about.” In fact, if his heart had not been completely devoid of all natural filial affection, he would have run directly to his father, embraced him, and asked, “What glorious news are we celebrating? What’s going on?” Then his father would have said, “Your brother’s home,” and they would’ve embraced and rejoice together with tears.

Read Mark 12:28–34.
What indicated that this religious leaders, unlike the elder brother and the Pharisees, was not far from the God’s kingdom?

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But the elder brother did not respond that way. He remained outside, deliberately keeping his distance from the celebration. He demanded to know what was going on before he would even think of joining the festivities. Verse 26 says, “he called one of the servants and ask what these things meant.”

The Greek word translated “servant” in that verse signifies a young, preadolescent boy. All the adult servants were inside, of course, taking care of guest. But household services living on a large estate such as this would naturally have their own families. Some of them were young children. They were themselves called “servants” by virtue of the fact that they were born into the servants families. They might even occasionally run errands at the behest of the master, but they were still too young to be of much help during gala such as this. So they would play together on the outer fringes of the celebration.

A huge event like this with so much food and the opportunity to stay up late into the night was obviously a joyous occasion for them to. The children would have their own little party outside, and in that way even the servants’ children became participants in the joy of this wonderful celebration.

That was apparently the first group the elder brother met as he came in the direction of the house. Of course, he was a person of the highest rank in the household, so he was not someone the servant children would talk to casually. They may have even lowered their animated chatter to a whisper as he approached. But he summoned one of them over and asked what was going on. Actually, the language Jesus employed suggest that he demanded an explanation, not from his own father, but from someone who would be totally intimidated by him. The verb tense in verse 26 is imperfect, implying repeated action: “He kept inquiring.” This suggest that he inundated the boy with a barrage of questions: What is going on? How is it that I didn’t know about this? Why wasn’t I ever consulted?

The servant boy’s answer implies that he expected the elder brother to welcome the good news: “Your brother has come, and because your father has received him safe and sound, he has kill the fatted calf” (V. 27). The Greek expression translated “safe and sound.” in the English version is the same root from which our word hygiene is derived. It speaks of wholeness, cleansing, and health. The servant boy was not merely announcing that the prodigal son was finally home from the far country, but also that he was dramatically changed for the better. More importantly, the father had received him. Their relationship was restored. That was what this party was all about.

But the elder brother was by no means pleased to hear the news. Given the cultural context, the seriousness of the younger boys sin, and the fact that the elder brother had not yet seen the prodigal or heard any expression of repentance from his own lips, we might not expect him to rise instantly to the same full height of joy his father had. But if this son felt any genuine love for his father at all, he would not have reacted to his brothers return as if it were bad news. At the very least, he all to have been filled with some sense of relief to know his brother was safely at home. He had witnessed the prodigals rebellion. He knew very well what kind of wicked, self-destructive attitude to boy left home with. Wouldn’t it seem reasonable that he should be glad to learn that the boy was alive – and curious to see for himself how his younger brother might have changed?

But he was neither of those things. Instead, his immediate response was extreme anger. He refused to go in.

Read 1 John 4:20, 21.
What was Jesus telling the Pharisees about their relationship with God through the example of the elder brother?

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Day Three

A Homecoming of a Different Sort.

Just as the younger sons fleeing to the far country serves to show how poorly he regarded his father, so this one’s being out in the field is a fitting metaphor for where he stood in terms with his own family. Both sons were far away from the father. In the end they both came home – but would totally different attitudes and two very different perceptions.

Read Mark 7:6.

How would you describe your own proximity to the father?
______ I am in a far country.
______ I look close, but my heart is far away.
______ I’ve been far, but I’m headed home.
______ I’m close and intend to stay there.

As the elder son approached the house, “he heard music and dancing” (Luke 15:25). This was typical at wedding feast and other festive occasions. The smell of roasted meat would also permeate the air. The elder son would easily detect all the signs of a great celebration in the air. He was surprised and understandably curious. What could this possibly mean?

Of course there was no reason whatsoever for him to make any negative assumptions. Anyone coming upon a scene like this ought to meet it with the highest expectations and an eager heart. All the music and dancing made it perfectly obvious, after all, that he was walking into a celebration, not a funeral. He ought to have been excited to learn what spectacularly good news could possibly have unleashed an unplanned celebration of this magnitude. You would think he would run to the noise and see it for himself.

But not so. The young man was clearly in a glass-half-empty kind of mood. He was suspicious. (Legalist or almost always suspicious, particularly when they ecounter joyful people.) He was stunned, confused, and clearly less than pleased to see such a party in full swing at his house but without his knowledge. After all, when he went out to the field that morning, it was a day like any other day. He had now come home at a late hour, and with no warning whatsoever, he arrived to find the biggest celebration he has ever witnessed, already under way, and under his own roof.

The elder brother’s surprise is perfectly understandable; his extreme indignation is not so easily excused. His reaction suggest that he assumed from the get-go that whatever news had provoked such delirious joy on the part of his father was going to be something he would resent. So “he called one of the servants and ask what these things men” (v. 26).

Read Galatians 3:10.

In your opinion, why can’t legalist ever truly rejoice?

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Day Two

The elder brother takes center stage

The prodigal son’s brother had been out in the field and therefore completely oblivious to all that had happened in his father’s life that day. That meant he was also unaware of the celebration that was already under way at his house.

It appears that it was late in the evening when the elder brother showed up. The party was already full-blown. It is a striking fact that neither the father nor anyone else had told the elder son about his brother’s return. In all the excitement, no messenger had been sent to bring him the glad tidings, and (even more telling) he had not even been asked to assist with the preparations for the celebration. That is extremely surprising because with so much to coordinate, and so many tasks and people requiring oversight, the help of someone with the cloud of a nobleman’s firstborn son would certainly be a great benefit. In fact, the responsibility for setting up and overseeing the arrangements for an event like this in that culture would normally fall on the shoulders of the eldest son. Party planning was hardly a patriarchal duty.

In this case, however, before the elder boy he even came into the picture, all the preparations were complete, the entire village had been summoned, musicians and dancers were already leading the festivities, and the party was well and truly underway. Why was the elder brother not told about all this before now?

There’s only one reasonable explanation. The son had no better relationship with his father than the prodigal did when he first left home. The father surely knew that – even if no one else did. Any onlooker from outside the family might not notice any obvious tension between the father and his first born. But all his supposed faithfulness and compliance with the father’s will was just a sham. It was nothing more than his way of getting what he wanted – approval, affirmation, wealth, land, and prestige in the community. In reality, this boy was every bit as estranged from the father as his open rebellious younger brother had ever been.

The fact that he was not quickly summoned as soon as the prodigal arrived seems to be clear evidence that the father could see what was really in the elder brother’s heart. The father knew the real truth about his firstborn son, even if it was not obvious to everyone else.

Read Luke 5:21–22; John 2:24–25; John 5:42.
What does Jesus, like the father in the parable, know about people?

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That’s why the celebration began without him. The father probably anticipated how the elder brother would react to his younger brother’s homecoming, and therefore he deliberately did not bring him into the process early. He didn’t need this young man’s sour, sulking attitude to be a wet blanket on such a festive occasion. Besides, the boy’s passive aggressive antagonism would have been no help at all – in fact, it would’ve been a serious impediment during the prefatory stages of putting on a great feast like this. So the father simply let the elder son remain in the field while he himself organize the celebration, invited the guest, began the party, and acted as sole host.

If you had been the oldest sibling in this story, would the father have sent for you? Why?

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Day One

The Elder Brother’s Resentment

His Hypocrisy

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in”

— Luke 15:28, NIV

Sinners come in two basic varieties. Some don’t really care who sees what they do. Invariably their besetting sin is pride – the kind of pride that is seen in an undue love for oneself and uncontrollable lust for self-indulgent pleasures.

At the other end of the spectrum are secretive sinners, they prefer to sin when they think no one else is looking. They try to mask there more obvious sin in various ways – often with the pretense of religion. Their besetting sin is also pride, but it’s the kind of pride that manifest itself in hypocrisy.

Of the two types of sinners, the wanton sinner is much more likely than the sanctimonious sinner to face the reality of his own fallenness, repent, and seek salvation. His sin is already uncovered. It is undeniable. He has to face up to it. Not so with the Pharisee. He will try as long as possible to camouflage his immorality, deny his guilt, disavow his need for redemption, and declare his own righteousness.

In Jesus’ parable, the prodigal son obviously represents open sinners – the rebels, the dessolute, the debauched, the deliberately immoral people who make no pretense of faith in God or love for Him. In other words, the character of the prodigal is a symbol for those whom we encounter back in verse one: “the tax collectors and sinners” – societies outcast. Such people start out by running as far away as possible from God. They have no innate love for Him. They desire no relationship with him. They want nothing to do with His law or his authority. They have no interest in fulfilling someone else’s expectations or demands – especially God’s. They want no accountability to Him whatsoever. They don’t even want to retain Him in their thoughts.

As Jesus continues with his parable, it becomes obvious that the second (and opposite) kind of sinner is epitomized by the elder brother.

Read Luke 15:25–30.

Describe what the elder brother looked like on the outside.

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Describe what the elder brother looked like on the inside.

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The elder brother is an emblem of all the seemingly honorable superficial moral, or outwardly religious sinners – people just like the scribes and Pharisees . Here is a sinner that thinks hypocrisy is as good as real righteousness. What he looks like on the outside cloaks a seething rebellion on the inside.

The elder son is the one who embodies the parable’s main lesson. He is a picture of the religious hypocrite.

The elder son is the third major character in the parable, and as it turns out, he is the one who embodies the parable’s main lesson. His most obvious characteristic is his resentment for his younger brother. But underneath that, and even more ominously, it is clear that he has been nurturing a quietly smoldering hatred for the father – a long, long time, it appears. This secretly rebellious spirit has shaped and molded his character in a most disturbing way.

People often assume that the elder son represents a true believer, faithful all his life but suddenly caught off guard by his father’s generosity to the wayward brother and therefore a little bit resentful. By that interpretation the elder brother really needs nothing more than just an attitude adjustment.

That interpretation misses the whole point of the parable, though. The elder son has never truly been devoted to his father. He is a picture of the religious hypocrite. He is the Pharisee-figure in Jesus’ story. He probably had the whole village sincerely believing that he was a “good” son – very respectful and faithful to his father. He pretended to be a loyal son. But in reality, he had no genuine respect for his father, no interest in what pleased his father, no love for the fathers values, and no concern for his needy younger brother. That all becomes very clear as the story unfolds.

The elder brother turns out to be just as lost and hopelessly enslaved to sin as his brother ever was. He just won’t admit that – not to himself, or to anyone else.

Read 1 John 1:6–10.

What false claims do hypocrites make about themselves?

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What true claims does God make about hypocrites?

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Day five

A Picture of Heaven’s Joy

While we are still considering the prodigal’s father, let’s take notice of the key lessons we can learn from Jesus is imagery. Remember that the father in the parable is a figure of Christ.

As you read the following passages in the Bible note how the fathers reception of his son reflects Christ reception of repentant sinners.

Isaiah 61:10

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John 6:37

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Hebrews 4:16

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There is an endless supply of mercy with him.

He is the One who bears the sinner’s reproach, invites repentant sinner’s to come to him for rest, and embraces all who do come. He said, “the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). There is an endless supply of mercy with Him. He replaces the rotten rags of our sin with the perfect robe of his own righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). He offers forgiveness, honor, authority, respect, responsibility, full access to all his riches, and the full right to pray in His name.

The fathers eagerness to forgive reveals to us something about the divine perspective of redemption. Christ is not a reluctant Savior. God the Father is not the least bit reserved in extending mercy to penitent sinners.

His justification is full and immediate – a finished reality not merely an ethe­real goal for sin­ners to work for.

Those facts, combined with the imagery in the parable of the prodigal son, picture God as almost impatient when nit comes to His eagerness to forgive sinners. He runs to embrace. He showers the returning sinner with affection and kisses. He quickly calls for the robe, the ring, and the shoes. His justification is full and immediate — a finished reality, not merely an ethereal goal for sinners to work for.

Christ is not a reluctant savior.

There is an effort afoot in these postmodern times, even within some quarters of the evangelical movement, to downplay the significance of personal redemption and the promise of heaven for individual believers. I keep hearing the suggestion that perhaps we have missed the real point of the gospel – that maybe it’s not so much about the forgiveness of this or that person’s sin, but it’s all about bringing the kingdom of God to earth here and now. And so, we’re told Christians should be less concerned about their own personal redemption and more concerned about redeeming our culture are solving the large-scale dilemmas of our times, such as racial prejudice, global warming, poverty, the marginalization of disenfranchised people, or whatever worldwide crisis is slated to be the featured calls for the next Live Aid Concert.

Earthly suffering is indeed an important issue for Christians. We need to care for the poor, minister to the sick and needy, care for those who are sorrowing, and defend those who are genuinely oppressed.

But notice again that the divine joy Jesus talks about in Luke 15:11–32 is not unleashed because some great social problem in the world has finally been solved. Heaven’s inhabitants are not waiting breathlessly to see whether the earths environment can survive the effects of burning through fossil fuels. The joy Jesus described is not currently suppressed under some divinely decreed moratorium until all the world’s suffering can finally be eliminated. Nor is the start of the heavenly celebration on hold until a widespread revival at last breaks out somewhere.

It seems safe to assume that the party in heaven never stops.

All heaven rejoices “over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7; emphasis added). Since there’s every reason to believe individual sinners are being redeemed, somewhere in the world, all the time, day in and day out – it seems safe to assume that the party in heaven never stops. All Heaven is filled with the consummate, undiluted, and unspeakable joy. Best of all, that Joy is constant and never-ending. That is why God also commands His people here on earth to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). “Rejoice evermore” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16 KJV).

Think of the day you placed your faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior. What happened in heaven that day?

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To refuse to enter into heavens joy is practically the most irrational and wicked sin imaginable.

In fact, to refuse to enter into heaven’s joy is practically the most irrational and wicked sin imaginable. Why would anyone refuse to share this father’s gladness and celebrate the redemption of so tragic a boy? Yet we are all about to meet the character who in bodies that very resentment: the elder brother.

Here the parable takes another shocking turn. This beautiful story has spanned just a few brief verses so far, but it has featured several glorious and vitally important lessons about redemption, forgiveness, justification by faith, and God’s own joy in the salvation of sinners. The parable appears to be headed toward a supremely happy ending.

But sadly the whole character of the story changes. The elder son comes into the scene. The story sadly plummets towards a completely different kind of conclusion. And in the end, it drives home an urgent and ominous message for Israel’s self-righteous religious elite.

This is one of the most profound and truly pivotal moments in the earthly life and teaching of Christ.

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Day Four

Reinstating His Son’s Status

What three gifts did the father immediately give his son?

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Jesus mentions three gifts that the father immediately gave his penitent son: a robe, a ring, and sandals. Everyone in the audience hearing Jesus’ story understood the implications of those three gifts.

The Sandals …

The sandals may sound like the least of the gifts, but they were highly significant. They made an unmistakable symbolic statement about the depth of the father’s acceptance towards his son. Hired servants and household slaves customarily went barefoot. Only the masters and their sons wore footwear. So the shoes were an important gesture that signified the former rebel’s full an immediate reinstatement as a privilege son.

The Robe …

The robe was an even higher honor. Every nobleman had a choice robe – an expensive, ornate, embroidered, one-of-a-kind, floor-length outer garment of the highest quality fabric and craftsmanship. It was a garment so special that he wouldn’t even think of wearing it even as a guest to someone else’s wedding. It would be reserved instead for his own children’s weddings or an equivalent occasion.

He wanted to put that on this reformed swineherd before the boy even had an opportunity to clean himself up? Everyone in the village would be aghast at such a thought. Giving him the robe signified a greater honor than one would normally even think to confer on his son. This was a kind of courtesy normally reserved for an extremely prestigious visiting dignitary. The father was publicly honoring his returning son, not only as a guest of honor at the banquet, but also as a person of the utmost distinction.

The Ring …

The father also called for a ring to be put on the boys hand. This was a signet ring that had the family’s crest or seal, so when the ring was pressed into melted wax and pressed against a formal document, the resulting seal served as a legal authentication. The ring therefore was a symbol of authority. The signet ring carried a key meaning that everyone in the culture understood. If formally endowed the prodigal son with a legal right known as usufruct.

Those familiar with legal terminology – especially probate law – will immediately recognize that term. The legal principle of usufruct has a long history that dates back to at least early Roman law, and it is still a recognized right in most systems of civil law today. Usufruct is a Latin expression that literally means “use of the fruits,” and it describes the legal right to use someone else’s property or assets freely and reap the fruits of them as if they were one’s own personal possession.

In other words, usufruct confers all the rights of ownership without actually transferring the title of ownership per se. The usufructuary (non-owner receiving this right) is not authorized to sell, damage, or diminished the value of the property in question. But beyond that, he is free to use it any way he likes. If it’s a field, he can cultivate it and reap the profits of the venture without any obligation to pay rent. If it’s real estate, he can use the property as if it were his own, or even lease it out to someone else and collect the proceeds for himself. This was a high and powerful privilege, similar to the power of attorney, but specifically with respect to use of the property.

The message was clear: the father was granting the boy not only for forgiveness and full reconciliation, but also the full privileges of nobleman’s son who has come to age and proved himself trustworthy.

Read the following passages in your Bible. Draw a line from each passage to the gift it indicates God gives to his children.

          Romans 2:9-10                   Gift of Sonship

          1 John 3:1                      Gift of Honor 

          Revelation 2:26                 Gift of Authority 

Posted with Dragon Dictate … Please report any errors.