Taking the Road Back

Do you consider yourself far from God, so far away that you can’t see a way back to God’s good favor? If so, don’t feel alone, there are many people who have found themselves in that particular situation.

The good news is that there is a way back and Jesus taught us about it in the form of a parable. It is known as the parable of the Prodigal Son and is found in Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. To give you a little background on the situation that prompted this parable, the Pharisees complained that Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). In response, Jesus tells this parable.

The parable starts with a son of a wealthy individual who asks his father for his share of the inheritance in advance. After receiving his share, the son moves far away and proceeds to blow all of the inheritance on wild living. Destitute and facing a famine in the land where he is living, the son was forced to hire himself out as a farm hand feeding pigs.

The son finally came to his senses and realized just how much pain he had cause his father. Knowing that his father’s servants enjoyed far better conditions than he did as a pig feeder, the son resolved to return to his father and ask to be allowed back, not as a son, but as a mere servant.

While the son was far off, Jesus says, the son was spotted by his father. I wonder, did the father spend his days looking down the road hoping that his son would return? Once he spotted his son, the father ran down the road to meet him. When they met, the son asked to be accepted back as a servant. He was surprised when the father accepted him back as his son.

There are some important takeaways from this parable, especially if you think you are in the same situation as the son in the parable. The first is that the son was spiritually in the same state as those of us who consider ourselves hopeless sinners. He had squandered everything the father gave him, emotionally hurt his father, and had nothing left but to return and throw himself on the mercy of his father.

If you consider yourself a hopeless sinner, then you are in the same spiritual situation as this prodigal son. There is nothing left for you to do but to return to God the Father and throw yourself on His mercy. The good news is that the prodigal son was forgiven and you can be as well. What is needed is a contrite spirit and the desire to lead a better life.

The second takeaway involves the reaction of the father. Rather than accept his son back as a servant, he lovingly welcomed his prodigal back as his son and he called for a celebration. If we, no matter how many our sins, approach our heavenly Father with true repentance and affirm our commitment not to repeat our sins, then we can be assured that our heavenly Father will accept us back as His child.

So taking the road back to our heavenly Father involves the same steps that the prodigal son took. We must first recognize our distance from God, feel remorse for our actions which have caused this distance, and approach our heavenly Father for forgiveness. Then, like the repentant prostitutes and tax collectors, despite out past sins, we can be united with God the Father and the Son. Who knows, perhaps the Father will call for a celebration!