Fearless Inventory

Luke 15:17-18

How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.”

The saying “conduct a fearless inventory of your life”, comes from the fourth step of Alcoholics Anonymous’s 12-step programme that has been so useful in helping addicted men and women. Once we hand ourselves over to the Lord, we need to be honest with ourselves. What choices are we making that are not in line with the Lord’s priorities? How have we contributed to brokenness in our relationships with those around us? How do our actions reflect a life that is self-centred and not God-centred?

Exploring these questions may take us down a long and winding path, but we will begin to see just how far we have wandered from the Lord.

We may realize we are like the prodigal son, who found himself hungry and out of resources, eating pigs’ food to keep himself alive. His story begins when he demands that his father give him everything he would normally inherit when his father died. Living a life of wild excess and selfishness, he squanders everything his father gave him. Jesus says he suddenly came to his sense and said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!” And so the young man started his journey back to his father’s house.

So it is with you and me. What have we done with all that our Father God has entrusted to us? At some point, you and I must come to our senses and realize where we are and where we belong instead. When this happens, we will begin our own journey back to our Father’s house. But it won’t happen unless we have the courage to ask ourselves some hard questions.

Reflection Questions

Read the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-24 again. Take inventory of all that God has blessed you with and thank him for his gifts. Ask the Spirit to guide you as you take stock of how you have used God’s gifts. What one step of stewardship can you take today to honour him with his gifts?