Home With the Father

In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus tells the story of the "prodigal son" who returned home after a season of riotous living. Verse 14 says that "he began to be in need," and verse 17 and 18 says, "When he came to his senses" he set out to "go back" to his father. The famous painting by Rembrandt to the right depicts what the reunion between father and son may have looked like. It is a touching portrait that helps us to understand the great longing God has to have all his children in close fellowship with Himself. Perhaps this is why Luke 15:20 says of the father, "But while he (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."

While we recognize that the story about the prodigal is often used to describe the need for both sinner and backslidden saint to come home, I wonder if there may be another way of seeing this parable. Perhaps all of us have areas in our lives that God wants to deal with, but like the prodigal we "set off to a distant country" and try to ignore His disciplines. Maybe there are times when we hold back or try to hide (like Adam did) the areas that desperately need to be changed. How we need to come home to the Father that He might throw His arms around us to heal and to change the areas where we have kept Him at bay. For the reality is this: He will not stop working in our lives until we become like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! For us, this is both a promise and a challenge; therefore, let us all the more readily run to Him and let Him do the good work of molding and shaping us into His workmanship.