Every message I have ever heard on the The Prodigal Son was designed to reach the lost and bring them into the kingdom of God. For me, the real emphasis of this parable is not to the unbeliever. I believe it is to the Christian who is not where he should be, or could be, in the Lord Jesus.

Let's read the account of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-16:

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 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. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

After this young man spent all his money, the Bible says he ended up feeding swine. In the vernacular of our day, you would say his job was to "slop the hogs." It doesn't matter if you look at it from today's perspective or from the perspective of the past, slopping the hogs is a low job to have, even more so for a young Jewish boy. The job of swine herder was the absolute bottom rung. The essence of this parable is falling as low as you can fall in life.

What is important to understand about this parable is the fact that you don't go from the Father's house to the hog pen in one day, so to speak. It is a sequence of events in the life of a believer that takes them progressively down the road to the hog pen. That's why I've entitled this message, "The Hog Pen Trail."

Unfortunately, too many Christians are on this trail, headed away from God and toward the slime pit of sin and corruption. Sadly, many don't even know they are on this trail. Also, it isn't "one sin" that puts you on the trail. Rather, it is a progressively declining lifestyle that takes you down the trail, one step at a time.

I want to identify some of the steps that take you down this path. If you are one of those Christians headed down this trail, my desire is that you'll be able to identify yourself and take steps to turn around and head back to the Father's house.

Step One: Leaving the Father's House
The first step the prodigal made was that he took his life out from his father's hand and into his own. That's what he was doing, in essence, when he asked for his inheritance and took off on his own. He took his life out from under the protection and oversight of his father and under the influence of the world.

The influence of the world undermines the traditional moral values of the Judeo-Christian ethic - the standards of God's truth. The world says, "Do your own thing! Express yourself. Don't be shackled by your father's traditions. You're free to be yourself." Unfortunately, many people end up doing just that.

God's Word outlines the things we need to do in order to live a life that is successful and fulfilling. You're either going to believe the Word and leave your life in His hands; or you'll take your life into your own hands, rejecting the Father's truth, and start taking those steps down the wrong path.

Rejecting the Father's way may sound something like this, "I know the Bible says to tithe, but I can't afford to do it right now." Or, "I know the Word says my spouse should be a priority but you can't imagine how busy I've been with my job."

When you make decisions like that, you've just taken a step away from the Father's house and down the hog-pen trail.

Step Two: Traveling to a Far Country
The second step the prodigal did was that he "traveled to a far country." That means he got as far away as possible from his father's influence.

When a believer begins moving away from the principles of God's Word, you begin to see less and less of them in church. Their Christian friends begin to see less of them as well. Suddenly, they begin making "new" friends.

The prodigal started hanging around with the wrong crowd. And I can assure you, that's what will happen to you when you begin moving away from godly influences. There are lots of "crowds" on the hog-pen trail that will encourage you to go further down that path.

There is the "party" crowd that is always ready to have a good time, who will try to seduce you to join them: "Come on, don't be such a stuffed shirt. One little drink isn't going to hurt." There is the crowd whose lifestyle is filled with sexual perversion who will try to seduce you: "Whatever kinky thing you're into, go ahead and do it. Nobody is gonna condemn you."

God, however, tells us to "be ye separate" and to have no relationship with the unfruitful works of darkness. As children of God, we are not to develop relationships with unbelievers. We can minister the truth of God's Word to them, but we are not to fellowship with them.

Jesus said you can't serve two masters. You can't go out on Saturday night, sit in a bar with unbelievers, booze it up, and then come to church Sunday morning and lift your hands to God in praise. It's an abomination to Him.

I think part of the problem for many people is that they've become desensitized to darkness. They've rubbed shoulders with darkness too long, hanging around with the wrong crowd until ungodliness doesn't offend them any longer. When that happens, they've taken another step down the hog-pen trail.

Step Three: Wasting Your Substance
The third step the prodigal took is that he "wasted his substance with riotous living." So often we focus on the "riotous living" part. But I think the thing that is most important is that he "wasted his substance."

The prodigal happened to waste his father's substance on riotous living. There are many people who don't think they're on the hog-pen trail because they aren't out in the bars getting drunk. Yet, they are still wasting the Father's substance.

What does it mean to waste the Father's substance? God gave us all sufficiency in all things so we could abound to every good work. God wants your need superabundantly met, more than you can ask or think, but He expects you to use the prosperity He brings you to "abound toward every good work." He wants you to promote His plan in the earth, not to consume it on your own lusts.

So whether you consume God's provision on riotous living or some other lust is really irrelevant. If you have a hard time tithing or giving to God, then, let me warn you, you've taken a step down the hog-pen trail.

Step Four: Experiencing Famine
The fourth thing that the prodigal began to experience was famine or severe lack. The prodigal was reduced to eating the cornhusks that was leftover by the hogs! And even that was not enough to satisfy his hunger.

Famine is not restricted to just the financial or material realm. It can touch any area of a person's life. You can experience famine in your relationships. You can experience famine in the health of your body. You can experience famine in your peace of mind.

If you're being touched by famine either spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, physically, or materially - however you want to describe it - you are on the wrong trail. Let it be a warning to you that you need to change your direction.

Step Five: Seeking Worldly Answers
The last step the prodigal took was that he sought the world for answers. The prodigal came to a point of crisis in his life. He was experiencing severe poverty and lack. What did he do? He joined himself to a citizen of that country. What was the end result? He found himself in the hog pen.

That's what many people do when they get in trouble. Instead of falling on their knees before God and repenting, they seek the world for answers to their problems. They might go to an unsaved psychiatrist, a banker, a professor or friend. And the solutions given usually take them one step farther down the hog-pen trail.

I'm not saying psychiatrists, bankers or professors are bad. What I'm saying is that the solution has to fall within the framework of God's direction and His Word. When in trouble, our first reaction should be to turn to God for direction and not the world.

You Can Turn Around
The prodigal didn't have to end up in the hog pen. He could have turned his life around at any point and went back to his father's house. The sad truth is that he was unable to see he was headed for the hog pen. He was unaware of the progression his life was taking.

Perhaps you've been able to identify yourself somewhere on the hog-pen trail. Unknowingly, you've gone down that path by taking your life out of the Father's hands. Unknowingly, you've gone down that path by hanging around with the wrong crowds. Unknowingly, you've gone down that path by wasting the blessings of God on the desires of your flesh rather than the plan of God.

If that's you, God is saying to you that it's not too late to turn around. You can get off the hog-pen trail. If you've been seduced into smoking a little marijuana, it's not too late to turn around. Maybe you're a teenager and you've been hanging around the wrong crowd and they've influenced you to start drinking. It's not too late, you can turn around. You don't have to end up in the hog pen.

E.V. Hill Faced His Future
A well-known preacher named E.V. Hill tells about his first experience with alcohol. When he was 14-years old, he and his friends got drunk on old "rot-gut wine." He came home drunk as a skunk and stumbled into the house. His mother, surprisingly, was sweet to him and put him to bed. The next morning she got him up and fed him coffee. E.V. was puzzled because this was the sort of behavior that would guarantee his getting a whipping.

A couple days later, his mother took him to town, which was their usual thing. Only she took a different turn. E.V. asked, "Where are we going, Momma?" She said, "I'm taking you down to the gutter part of town." Puzzled, E.V. asked, "Why, Momma?" She explained, "Well, that's where you're headed and I want you to have some friends when you get there. I'm going to introduce you to some of those folks so you won't be lonesome in a couple of years when you wind up there."

True to her word, she made him meet and shake hands with about ten, homeless "winos." It shook him up so bad that he never even thought about having another drink. He did a complete turn around.

E.V.'s mother demonstrated to him the truth of the prodigal son. She showed him what was at the end of the trail. E.V. was wise enough to get off the path he was taking.

You Can Turn Around Too
There are some beautiful words recorded in Luke 15:17, "and when he came to himself." The prodigal may have ended up in the hog pen but he still "came to himself." That simply means he recognized the error of his ways and realized it's far better at his father's house.

Then the Word says he did something about it. The next verse says, "I will arise and go to my father." He got off the hog-pen trail and turned his life around.

Sadly, there are many people who are on the hog-pen trail who never "come to themselves." Or perhaps they are aware of the mistakes they've made but are so full of condemnation that they put off getting right with God. They say, "I'll do it tomorrow." Unfortunately, tomorrow never comes.

Sadly, there are those who feel they have fallen so far that God couldn't possibly ever use them. But, praise God, that's the good news of the Gospel. If you turn around, God will put a robe on you, a ring on your finger and shoes on your feet. Your life can be everything God planned it to be.

Don't let the devil tell you it's too late. It's never too late! I don't care how far down the road you may have traveled. Turn your eyes to the Father's house. At the Father's house, there is ample provision for your every need. There is joy unspeakable and full of glory. There is peace that passes understanding. The craving of our soul can be satisfied at the Father's house.