I--_A yellow cloth,_ a square piece of cloth as the Prodigal has not yet come to rags. The yellow stands for the home he left,--the land of plenty. Yellow stands for the rich grain fields, and is also the color of the bread he found on his Father's table. Full and plenty and for the fields, ripe for harvest. How often he had sung the harvester's song in the field when working with his dear old father when they lived together on the good old farm. Now from the rag table pick up II--_A piece of red._ This should be cut in the shape of a heart. Red stands for love and the heart of red for the loving heart of his father. It should not be forgotten that the big point of this parable is "The Loving Father," not the wayward son. It teaches how kind is the great heart of the loving heavenly Father and how sweet is His welcome to the wanderers who seek His face and favor. The son in rags knew this and no matter how far he got away from God, he never got away from the memory of the fond old father at home, yet he left it all for rags. Now pick up III--_A blue piece of cloth._ This stands for the dissatisfied heart of the boy. He had "the blues." Tired of home; longed for excitement; unhappy in his father's house. So he thought of the big town where he thought he would be happy, and told his father so; he asked for his share of the estate because he wanted money. He must have money to be happy. So his father granted his request. Now pick up IV--_Gray cloth._ The color gray was the color of the silver coins which his father gave him. (Make this cloth crooked.) This was a crooked step. He was crowning his own will. He was turning from the wisdom of his father. That alone was crooked. The misuse of money is often the first crooked step the youth takes. So often they leave home for larger wages, not because of the privilege of saving, but the sin of spending. After the estate is settled, the youth, with his new inheritance, gets the crooked foot, forgets God and His counsels. In one of our great high schools a prize essay was to be written. This was the subject: "If you had ten thousands dollars, what would you do with it?" In discussing this question, most of the boys had selfish answers. One would spend a year in traveling, another would make investments which yielded large returns quickly, etc. One lad said he would give it to his parents to save for him. This boy won the prize; he would never be a prodigal because of the misuse of money. The Prodigal wanted it for self use, and he got a handful of rags in return. Now pick up V--_A gay rag of several colors,_ or a cluster of gray colored ones (cut crooked). This represents the gaieties of the far off country into which he had plunged. The sins of the far-away country seemed tipped with gold; he fell for it at once. Satan whispered here is joy, let loose; you are away from home; no one knows you; plunge in; and he did. Here pick up from the table