Although, as Christians, we have a free will to make our own choices, God created us for a special purpose that we should commit our lives to when we accept Christ as our personal Savior, and “The Parable of the Lost Son” can teach us much about the way we live and think as Christians. In the parable we see that they younger son took his portion of his father’s property, spent it all sinfully and frivolously, ran out of money, and sunk to the duty of feeding pigs. From this element of the parable, we can learn that our desires will never completely satisfy us; they will fall short. We were made to run on God while anything else will fail us, and we should use our free will to satisfy Him, not ourselves. Moreover, the younger son returned to his father and asked if he could be like one of his father’s servants. After the younger son’s desires had fallen short and he realized how stupid his past sins had been, he understood what a blessing it is just to be a son of God. The prodigal son’s request to be a servant shows that he was sorry for and ashamed of his past sins, but the father honored him and celebrated because his son had returned with a new heart and eyes opened to the wealth of being God’s son. In the end of the parable the older son complains, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.” As Christians we should not be looking for rewards from God for following His commands and avoiding sin. Our mindset should be thankful, and we should want to obey God because we are His children who have been saved by His grace. In conclusion, we must constantly check our motives, our mindset, and if we are using the gift of free will to honor God.