Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Luke 15:13-16

Last night at a Bible study, one man asked what it meant to be alone. When God said “it is not good for the man to be alone,” he was speaking of more than being physically alone. We are made to be in communion with God and with other people, don’t you agree? Even those of us that enjoy our alone time, we need others. So, when considering what it means to be alone we have to look beyond the fact that we can be physically alone in a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific ocean, but we can also be alone even if in a large crowd.

Sometimes the loneliness we feel is a matter of our own choices. I’m not sure who said it first, but someone said that we make a few (maybe six) choices that will alter the direction of our lives. We make choices about God, about how we will live in the world, the relationships we invest in, and how we will respond in difficult times. Those few, major choices will direct every other choice in our lives.

In the verses above we learn a little more about the younger son’s choice to live his life by doing things his way. He wanted out of his life with the father and wanted to “be free to be me.” From that single decision, he shamed his father publicly, cashed out his inheritance and then “squandered his wealth in wild living.” How many of us need a description of what it would mean to engage in wild living?

Wild living is usually a symptom of someone who isn’t thinking clearly or is only thinking of himself, but wild living usually brings on a less than desirable outcome. The young man was like a professional athlete who lacks the good sense to handle money wisely and then is left bankrupt after earning more income than many will earn in a lifetime. Bankruptcy and a downturn in the economy led to hunger and hunger gave birth to desperation. Desperation can land you in the pig pen.

Think about the big choices in your life. Is the trajectory of your life headed where you want? Is it time for a course correction? There is still time to make a move.