Celebrate This Happy Day

Celebrate your "happy" day!

"His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'" Luke 15:31-32 

Meditate. Consider that God provides everything for us.

 

The father pleaded with his older son that his brother had been dead and was alive again. He was lost and is found. The father wanted unity within the family. He wanted to acknowledge and celebrate the miracle of his young son’s return, although he never gave up on his younger son coming back home. Remember that he was watching, waiting, and ran to welcome his son when he saw him a long way off. Now his older son wasn’t accepting his little brother’s homecoming. Think about how he observed his father watching for his brother’s return. He didn’t have his Dad’s attention. Do you think he was already harboring feelings of jealousy? It was not evident that everything his Dad had was his, but Dad said just that. Nope, this hardworking son didn’t feel that way at all. He didn’t want to celebrate this “happy” day. Would you?

It is a happy day for the Dad, but is it for the older son? What happens to this family? Is it united? Jesus doesn’t give us a specific ending to His parable.

What do we learn about Jesus from this last portion of the Prodigal Son parable?

 

Prayer – Lord Jesus, You don’t tell us just exactly what to do or how things end…except we know that if we believe in You, the end of our story is the beginning of forever with You. That is going to be a glorious day—not just a happy day to celebrate. Thank You—for Your obedience that allows all this to happen.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to `! He was lost, but now he is found!'" Luke 15:32

 

© 2026 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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