And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him (Luke 15:16.)

"And no man gave to him" is the most gracious thing that could have happen to the prodigal son at this point.

The beauty of that statement is found in noting the clause before it, "He would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat." Here we see his will. This says that he had no mind to end his rebellion. He was intent on continuing his riotous life. He was determined to not return home regardless of the cost. His will was set. Nothing was too low, too disgraceful, or too hard if it would allow him to continue in his waywardness. The only thing that broke his will was the impossibility to do what he willed.

Man had given him everything. His father gave him the inheritance. His friends gave him pleasure. His employer gave him a job. Yet all that men gave him created an unquenchable desire for more, as the very lust that separated him from his father consumed everything, like the swine he was now employed to feed. When he would have certainly defied all that he had ever been taught by his father, "no man gave to him."

However, it was at the point that "no man gave to him" that God was giving something to him. Herein is demonstrated the inclination of man to continue without repentance, to go on to hell and never even blink. There is no ability in him to repent from his way, for Paul writes to Timothy, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (2 Tim 2:25.) It is God alone who imparts repentance to the soul of a man. It only happens in a famine, only in desperation, and only when no man gives to that man. It is when no man gives to a man that God is giving him that which no man can give him: grace!

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