Just Come Home

"Then he said: 'A certain man had two sons.
And the younger of them said to his father,
‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’
So he divided to them his livelihood.
And not many days after, the younger son
gathered all together, journeyed to a far country,
and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living."
Luke 15:11

This is typical of many young people longing to go off on their own and be free of their parents' control. Some of them are so anxious to leave the restrictions of their parents that they go headlong into sin, rebellion, and self-will, and they indulge themselves in every whim that comes into their hearts. These are sitting ducks for Satan. They are like Adam and Eve, in that whatever Satan puts invitingly into their minds, that they will do.

The result is always the same because sin eventually brings destruction. Always. Every time. It's a spiritual law.

In the parable above, the young man came to the end of his rebellion when he found himself in terrible straights. He realized he had wasted it all and that he had relinquished all rights from his father because it was all wasted. But he considered that even his father's servants were well fed, so he decided to go back to his father and ask if he could be one of the servants. At least then he'd have food on the table.

vs 19:
"I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’

It took courage for him to go to his father and humble himself this way, but anything was better than the circumstances that he had fallen to. So he turned back and started for home.

vs 20:
"But when he was still a great way off,
his father saw him and had compassion,
and RAN and fell on his neck and kissed him."

He was stunned at his father's willingness to receive him back, and not even as a servant, but fully as a son. His father was so overjoyed to see him coming that he went out to him with heart-swelling love, hugging him and kissing him received him fully. In the eyes of the father, the son was coming home and great was the rejoicing.

vs 23-24:
"And bring the fatted calf here and kill it,
and let us eat and be merry;
for this my son was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found."

I once was visiting a dying person and I asked her if she would come to the Lord. She answered me that all these years she had ignored him and done her own thing, and asked how could she come to him now when she was in trouble. I assured her that the Lord would receive her even now, even as she was in trouble. Like the prodigal. Just come. And she did. And she died joyfully, a fully-restored daughter to the Father.

If you've made a mess of your life, don't hesitate to return to the Father. He will receive you, in fact he'll rejoice in your coming home and you will be fully restored.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
Isaiah 1:18