Go Back

Go Back
Nov 19, 2012
Luke 15:18  "I will set out and go back to my father. . ."

While driving in the car recently with all my children, we took a brand new route that was unfamiliar to me.  It was an interesting new drive and it certainly appeared to the children that we were lost, as the surroundings were new and different.  We had arrived at our destination successfully when one my children spoke up with what can only be described as a "Captain Obvious" type statement.  He said that if we wanted to go home, we should just go back and travel the opposite of the route we had just taken.  At first I ignored his comment because I knew the way home, but after a moment I realized the wisdom in what he said.  It was similar to what Jesus said in the parable of the Lost Son.  Jesus said that if we should wander away we could go back home by simply returning to the father.

In the famous parable, the Prodigal Son realized he didn't like his destination, where he had arrived.  He had regret and longed to be back where he was before.  The Prodigal Son came to the same epiphany that my own child declared, regarding finding the way home: Go Back.  To "go back" means to return in the opposite manner, to travel in the reverse direction of the original path.  The Prodigal Son did just that.  He returned back home taking the opposite direction he had traveled.  It was a forsaking of his current destination and returning to the original state or place.

While you may not be a million miles from where you once were in life, having walked completely away from the Lord, there is still daily application to you and me in this story.  All of us get off track in life; we veer in a direction that takes us away from home, slightly away from a perfect relationship with the Lord.  Maybe we simply take on a few bad habits that don't exemplify the righteous life we once lived.  Maybe we allow coarse relationships or unforgiveness in our lives.  Maybe we partake in activities that we once shunned.  Whatever the infraction, there is always the opportunity to go back and return to the original state.  I know you have regret over actions and routes you've taken in life.  You might even regret the person you have allowed yourself to become lately.  But there is always the opportunity to go back.  Jesus said the Father would always welcome us home.

Sadly, however, I write this because you may find yourself in a unique place a few years from now.  You might be far from where you are today in your relationship with the Lord.  Mark these words and remember them carefully.  Though you may not intend it, your decisions might lead you away, on a road far from home.  I write this to you and beg you to remember that the Lord will always take you back.  All you have to do is turn around and go back home.  You don't need a map; all you have to do is go the reverse of where you currently find yourself.  The opposite route will be the way.  And when you get there, the Lord will have His arms open wide.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   2 Chron 7:14, Neh 1:9, Zech 1:3, Mal 3:7, Luke 15:10-32