"Elder Brother- Part 2"

"But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." Luke 15:30

Yesterday we talked about the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. Like most of us, God has made everything that we need available to us for the asking but we go lacking because we don't ask for what we need. This morning I want to look at this elder brother again- the focus being more on his attitude. It's true that this brother was jealous of his younger brother, but he had a bigger attitude problem than that- he was angry at his father. He saw the father blessing his brother, forgiving him, throwing a celebration for him and it made him angry. He didn't think that the father should have done this after the way his younger brother had acted.

Many Christians get jealous when the Lord blesses a fellow "brother" that they don't think is "worthy", but what they don't realize is that their jealousy toward that person is really anger toward God. The jealousy that they are experiencing is a "surface" problem, the real root is that they are angry with God. This is what happened to Cain. Cain got angry because God accepted Abel's offering and did not accept his. Cain's anger was toward God but it manifested as jealousy toward Abel. We tend to believe the problem is the one we see- jealousy of someone, not the one that is hidden- anger toward God, so the way we deal with it is by coming against that person- Cain killed Abel, the elder brother would not go in and celebrate with the younger brother.

We find it easier to deal with and admit that we are jealous, angry, etc. with someone else, but we don't like to think and have a hard time dealing with the fact that we are angry, upset, or mad at God. But if we are going to live at peace with one another, if we are going to walk in victory, if we are going to bear the fruit of the Spirit, if we are going to live in fellowship with the Lord, if we are going to be bright shining lights in a dark world, we are going to have to go to the root of the problem and admit like David did that it is "against Thee/God". (Psalm 51:4a)

Have a great day. If your real problem is toward God, admit it, repent of it, ask Him to help you and go live in freedom from it and harmony with your brother.