When the Prodigal Son came home, he had nothing. He had spent all his inheritance, gotten a crappy job with, we can only assume, crappy pay, and then quit that job to walk who knows how far to get back to his father's house to beg for a job. At that point, I'd like to think that he got it.
The ending of the parable is terribly unclear. Yes, the father welcomed the prodigal son back with open arms, but then what? His father would surely have given him a place to stay, clothes to wear, and food to eat, but he couldn't be given a second inheritance. That wouldn't have been fair to his older brother. The prodigal son, though welcome, was going to have to work for a living, and I'd like to think that he did.
Work is good and essential. It strengthens the body and enlivens the spirit. It gives life a tangible sense of progress and purpose which is far more visible than the spiritual purpose we all have and the spiritual progress we are all hopefully making. Work is wholesome, and I hope the prodigal son got and took the opportunity to do it.
In our mortal lives, work is essential. In the afterlife, work will be just as important, if not more so, even though the nature of the work may change. Instead of "resting in peace," we are going to continue to have Christlike attributes to develop, worlds to create, and spirit children to raise. Death isn't retirement; it's a promotion.
Just as the prodigal son had to work to get back to the place he had willingly left, and continued to have to work when he got there, so will we. We left our Heavenly Father's presence willingly, albeit under very different circumstances, and it will now take a lot of work to get back, yet even once we get back, our work won't be finished yet. That's why it's important to get into the habit of work and to learn to find joy and satisfaction in it. Life requires a lot of work, and that includes both this life and the next.
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