In every story I hear about a Prodigal child/spouse, including the story told in LUKE 11-32, the Prodigal leaves home.
Luke 15:11-13 NLT11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
However, I have come to learn, being a Prodigal is not about leaving home, it’s about leaving God. And we can do that right where we are.
The Biblical story focuses on the physical separation. The packing up and running away. The loss of contact, communication, and community. I am learning that a Prodigal doesn’t have to go far to be far away. They may still be in the household, but their mind and spirit is in a distant land, indulging in wild living.
This very situation is laid heavy on my heart. This post revealed to me while sitting next to my Prodigal in church one Sunday. She came voluntarily, but her mind and spirit were not present. I doubt she heard a word of the worship service or sermon. She was there because she did not want to be physically alone. Through a series of events, I had moved out of our shared home. Her boyfriend was arrested during a roadblock over a long holiday weekend and she was ill-prepared to be left unaccompanied.
Luke 15:14-1614 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.