05. What Are You Still Thirsty For?
Watch Today’s Video — 05. What Are You Still Thirsty For?
Perhaps you have reached something you once thought would make you happy.
Someone’s approval. A better income. A relationship. A goal you worked toward for years.
For a while, it felt good.
Then the longing returned.
What are you still thirsty for?
In Luke 15:11–32, Jesus tells of a younger son who asked his father for his share of the inheritance.
He wanted what his father could give him, and he wanted to leave.
The father divided his property. Soon afterward, the son gathered everything and traveled to a distant country.
There, he spent his wealth in reckless living.
Imagine the freedom he must have expected.
Money to spend. Nobody telling him what to do. A life arranged around what he wanted.
Then the money ran out.
A severe famine came, and he began to go hungry. He found work feeding pigs and longed to eat their food.
Nobody gave him anything.
The life he had chosen had brought him somewhere he never intended to be.
Perhaps you recognize something in that story.
You may have chased approval until you hardly knew what you believed anymore.
You may have pursued pleasure that now feels difficult to live without.
You may have given so much of yourself to achievement that the people closest to you received whatever was left.
What did you hope it would give you?
And what has it actually given you?
Sometimes the hardest truth to admit is that the life we keep defending is leaving us empty.
Jesus says the son came to his senses.
He remembered that his father’s hired workers had food to spare while he was starving.
He decided to go home, confess his sin, and ask to be treated as a hired worker.
He had no reason to pretend things were going well.
He had spent what he had been given. His choices had consequences. He needed mercy.
So he got up and went to his father.
That was the turning point.
He could have stayed where he was, rehearsing his regrets. He could have waited until he had enough money to look successful again.
Instead, he began the journey home.
What would that step look like for you?
Perhaps there is something you already know you need to face. A pursuit that keeps taking more and giving less. A choice you keep explaining away.
You don’t have to hide it from God.
Watch what happens as the son approaches home.
While he is still a long way off, his father sees him.
His father is filled with compassion. He runs to him, embraces him, and kisses him.
The son confesses that he has sinned against heaven and against his father. He says he is no longer worthy to be called his son.
His father calls for a robe, a ring, sandals, and a feast.
His son was lost and has been found.
Consider the welcome Jesus describes.
The son returned with a confession. His father received him with compassion and joy.
Could you be staying away because you expect a very different reception?
Where have you been looking for life—and what has it actually given you?
Read Luke 15:11–32 slowly.
Name one pursuit that keeps leaving you empty. Be honest about what it promises, what it costs, and where it is taking you.
Then ask God to help you turn toward Him:
“Father, I have been looking for life in something that cannot satisfy me. I need Your forgiveness and help. Show me the step I need to take, and give me courage to take it.”
The son’s return began when he admitted where his choices had taken him.
Then he got up.
What is your next step toward home?
Want to go further?
All ten Zúme discipleship lessons are on my site, free, with the video and the same teaching notes I use when I train leaders in person. Take them on your own, take them with a few friends, or join me live on Zoom and I will teach them to you face to face. When you finish, tell me and I will coach you personally.
Terry Ruff
DMM Catalyst & Zúme Trainer | Missionary at Northside Christian Church
Your gift would be tax deductible and overseen by Northside Christian Church, our sending church. There are many we coach that could use encouragement in small ways to accomplish great things.
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