The Journey Home

I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”

–Luke 15:18–19

I once read an advertisement for a book that said, “This book is for people who are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.” Perhaps right now you are sick and tired of feeling like all is not right between you and God. You’re sick and tired of worrying that God is going to send some kind of disaster into your life to bring you back to Himself. You want to enjoy the relationship with God that you once had, but you wonder if that’s even possible. You think, How could God possibly forgive me for what I’ve done? Even if He does forgive me, how can I make up for the time I’ve spent apart from Him? And if I do come home to a right relationship with God, how do I know that I’ll remain home?

The prodigal son in Luke 15 probably had those same questions: If I come back to my father, will he forgive me? Even if he does forgive me, will I live in his house as a slave or as a son? Is my inheritance lost forever? Am I a hypocrite for coming back to my father when I feel nothing for him? What if I find that life back home is just as unbearable as it was before I left?

This week, we’re going to begin looking at the journey home from the far country. Remember, the prodigal son left home and went to the far country, where he spent his inheritance on loose living. When a famine struck the land, he got a job feeding pigs in order to get by. Luke 15:16–20 says, “He would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father.”

This story reminds us that there are four stages in our journey home to the Father who loves us: crisis, repentance, forgiveness, and perseverance. For the next few weeks, we’ll see what our response should be when God works in our lives to bring us back to Himself–and what we can expect to find when we finally come home.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “The Journey Home” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.