Made with Artificial Marshmallow???

I didn’t know marshmallow was real enough to have a fake/artificial version! 😏😳 I appreciate my brother in law supplying us with a lot of interesting new flavors to try, and usually I like anything with marshmallow in it. But Peeps…I had my doubts! Turns out it’s pretty good! For more serious things though 

we should never expect real things to come from fake ingredients. 

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. Luke 15:13-14 says, “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.” This young man had it made at home with tons of real, meaningful things to be thankful for, but the “grass looked greener” on the other side. He thought he could find real happiness in fake, godless things. Living for himself without any rules seemed better, like the “real life he was meant to have,” but it turned out to be artificial, temporary, and heartbreaking. 

In this parable, it takes just one verse to go from living it up to broke, but even if it takes years, It. Will. Happen. And even worse: Running away from God leads to spiritual bankruptcy which is way worse than financial bankruptcy! The parable ends with the son coming back to the father who welcomed him home with open arms. How about we each skip to the end of the story and stay with God, living His way throughout our lives!