He Came to Himself
By Lindsay Grandison MacArthur
A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And
when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. … And he would fain have filled his belly with
the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, … I will arise and go to my
father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and before thee.
Luke 15:11-18
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“In the midst of crisis, the prodigal son in the biblical parable ‘came to himself’ and began the long journey back to his home. No doubt in that moment he realized the error of his ways. But more fundamentally, I think he also realized that he had forgotten who he was. There, among the swine, he remembered. And then everything changed.”
– David A. Bednar
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“Away from home, far from the place he wanted to be, and in his destitute condition, something of eternal significance happened in the life of this young man. In the Savior’s words, ‘he came to himself.’ He remembered who he was, realized what he had been missing, and began to desire the blessings freely available in his father’s house. Throughout our lives, whether in times of darkness, challenge, sorrow, or sin, we may feel the Holy Ghost reminding us that we are truly sons and daughters of a caring Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we may hunger for the sacred blessings that only He can provide. At these times we should strive to come to ourselves and come back into the light of our Savior’s love. … As you come to yourself, your Heavenly Father will come to you.”
– Robert D. Hales
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“This is the way home, first to come to yourself, and then to come to your God.” – Charles Spurgeon
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“He rightly returns to himself, because he departed from himself. For he who returns to God restores himself to himself, and he who departs from Christ rejects himself from himself.” – St. Ambrose of Milan
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"'He came to himself.' Then he had been beside himself before. It is insanity to try to shake off God, to aim at independence, to wander from Him, to fling away our 'substance,' that is, our true selves, and to starve among the swine troughs. He remembers the bountiful housekeeping at home, as starving men dream of feasts, and he thinks of himself with a kind of pity and amazement. … There is always famine in the land of forgetfulness of God.” – Rev. Alexander MacLaren
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“I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found. Why do I keep ignoring the place of true love and persist in looking for it elsewhere? Why do I keep leaving home where I am called the child of God, the beloved of my Father?” – Henri J.M. Nouwen
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