The Return Home
By Kendra Osborn
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to Him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:17-24 (NIV)
I have loved the Lord all my life. I gave my life to him when I was at a summer camp during my junior high years. I have never doubted my conversion that Friday night and I know I felt the Holy Spirit descend on me and I felt the freedom in Christ in a powerful way. But I haven’t always walked in His ways. There was a time when I was not only living in this world but I was like the world and lived a wild and insane lifestyle. I am a prodigal daughter. My return home to my Father was so amazing but it didn’t mean it was easy for me. The road I had to travel to go back home was rough. God being who He is was always patient with me in my journey of being restored and learning how to let Him be my healer and surrendering my will and flesh to Him.
That was several years ago and today I find myself amazed at the relationship I have with my Abba Father and how much deeper it is. My return home to him was not the end of my journey or the last of hard times in my life, but really it was just the beginning. I continue to grow deeper in Him and grow closer to Him. It is the most exciting life one could ever lead. How I praise God for His open arms when I ran back to Him. Where else could I go in times of trouble? There is no other refuge!
I think of this story often and how we are all prodigal sons and daughters. When the oldest son found himself at the bottom of his pit and the Word says he came to his senses. He remembered home and he had a heart of repentance. He not only knew the road home but he knew he had to repent. He got up and, step by step, he made the journey back to what he knew before his life of destruction. I often wonder if there were moments when he would run for as long as his weak and frail body would allow. I remember when I was in laying in my own mess and at the bottom of my pit how hard it was to take those steps without falling again.
What I love in this story and what God has taught me is the father’s response and what a mirror image it is to our Heavenly Father. His father saw him while he was still a long way off and ran to him embracing and kissing him. He celebrated his son’s life with no questions asked or lectures. How grieved this father must have been all that time for his son. The son he thought was dead and lost was now found and he was holding him again.
I wonder if his father watched that road every day hoping to see his son return one day. I imagine that, at times, our Abba Father sits on the edge of His throne looking for our return home. He longs for us to be in His arms so He can clothe us in the best robe and lavish his love on us. The Lord taught me something through this story recently. I was thanking the Lord for allowing me to return to His arms and He said to me “Kendra, you were always my daughter even when you left home.” He showed me that, as in this story, when the son left home and lived a life of sin it didn’t change his DNA or the family in which he was born into. He was always his father’s son and it never changed who they were to each other.
No matter what my children do I won’t stop loving them and they will not stop being my children. It may hurt me and I may be disappointed but I will always be their mother. When I think of what my life would be without them it brings me to tears. If one of them left home and lived in the world I would grieve and I would pray and I would watch every day to see if that was the day they were coming home.
When we experience a true heart conversion we can never stop being the sons and daughters of the Most High unless we renounce Him. I know when I gave my life to Christ it was real and my heart was true. When I was in a life of sin, I was still His. He loved me and He waited and watched for me to return home and run into His arms. That is the kind of love our heavenly Father has for us. It is everlasting and full of kindness and compassion for those who are His children.
Pray with me: Lord God, how we thank You for saving us from the pit and pulling us up with Your mighty right hand that is quick to save. We praise You God for loving us so much that You sent Your Son to die on a cross, pouring out His blood to allow us access to the Holy of Holies and reward us with eternal salvation! How could we even be worthy? Yet You found us to be worth saving.
We pray we never forget how deep, wide and vast Your love is for us. Your word says in 1 John 3, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” Just like the story of the prodigal son, his father lavished him with the best of everything he had because it was his son and he loved him so much. You, heavenly Father, lavishus with Your love because we are Yours. Thank you Father! We pray in Your Mighty and Precious name Yeshua. Amen!
Sisters, please continue to pray by praying these scriptures God has put on my heart, Hebrews 10:19-23 and Romans 8:35-39. Worship Him in truth and know there is nothing more powerful than praying His word!