Our parable of today often attracts our focus on the younger brother and father and points to us the immense loving forgiveness that God has for each of His erring children. However, the elder brother is often forgotten and it might be good to shift our focus to him as well. After all, he was the good dependable one, unlike his younger sibling who went off to enjoy a rather colourful life, who dutifully continued with a rather boring, mundane but righteous existence. It is thus easy to see why he was upset that all the attention was being poured on his newly-returned sibling.

We too may feel like the elder son in that we may have strived very hard to do the 'right' thing while others who stray from the path are the ones who seem to enjoy all the fun and also get the limelight and glory. Yet we plod along somewhat self-righteously, sometimes without any joy in our lives. Jealousy creeps in when our long-tiring efforts go unrecognised.

Perhaps we need to examine our motivations in life - do we do all the good things in life with pure motives or do we also perhaps seek approval and recognition in the process? Perhaps sometimes this happens without us even being aware of it!

We need to realize that God's approval is not based on what we do, but more importantly on who we are, that is, His children to whom He shows His unconditional compassion and love!