Returning to God

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Luke 15:17-19                                                                                                                                               

Many times when we wander away from God, we know that what we are doing is wrong, but we are not willing to return to Him until we reach rock bottom. D. L. Moody told of a conversation with a pastor friend, Andrew Bonar from Scotland about sheep. Bonar remarked that when sheep got themselves trapped on a cliff, the shepherd would wait until they were exhausted and faint before going to rescue them. Otherwise the sheep would run as the shepherd approached and fall over the edge. Moody concluded, “And that is the way with men; they won’t go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything. If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and are willing to let Him save you His own way.”

There is no reason for us to wait until we have lost everything before we repent and turn back to God. We should do so as quickly as we can, trusting His grace and mercy will provide the restoration of our relationship to Him that we need. Isaiah wrote, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). God is faithful to forgive. 

Often Satan whispers the lie to us that we have gone so far away from God that we can never return, but that is completely false. God welcomes home His children who turn to Him for forgiveness.