So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming.  Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20

The poet Maya Angelou once wrote, “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”[1]

The Bible contains a well-known tale about coming home. Jesus told the story, called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The message is that each of us is so precious, that despite how we may have rejected God’s love for us, God is overjoyed when we turn toward Him. He is the home that all of us ache for, but we so often think we can’t come to Him until we’re righteous or religious.

Rich Villodas lays out the overarching message of the Bible, which he says can be summed up in four phases repeated throughout its pages:  “I love you.  I am with you.  Don’t be afraid. You can come back home.”[2] The rebellious son in Jesus’ parable ended up living with pigs and eating pig slop. He decided to grovel back to be a servant in his father’s home.

“And while he was still a long way off,” Scripture says, “his father saw him coming.  Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him (Luke 15:20). “I have sinned…and am no longer worthy of being called your son,” the son said to his father. The son didn’t even have to fix himself up—his father provided a robe, ring and sandals.  Neither do we have to “fix ourselves,” before coming home.

Wandered from God today?  Just come back home.

[1] Goodreads. (n.d.). Home Quotes. Goodreads. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/home

[2] Villodas, Rich [@richvillodas]. “The Story of Scripture.” Instagram, August 20, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/ChfOsibOMpx/.