God and Strays - Martin Wiles

Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. Luke 15:20 NLT

“If you can’t come up with $600, he’s going to jail.”

My typical day at work melted into something not normal when the phone call came. My teenage son had been arrested for public drunkenness. Fortunately, he hadn’t gotten his driver’s license yet, or he might have been arrested for DUI.

I didn’t have $600 and wouldn’t have paid it anyway. Not that I was being hard-hearted, but my son had strayed for the last several years—into bad relationships, unhealthy habits, and other areas that took him far away from God. Perhaps jail would teach him a lesson, I thought.

His jail stint was short-lived. A friend bailed him out. Jail time didn’t bring the wanderer home.

Years later, he’s still a stray—of sorts. He has married, settled down, works hard, and has given us three grandchildren. My hopes were lifted once when he asked, “Dad, do you think that once a person is saved, they are always saved?” Evidently, his straying had him wondering also.

“Yes, son, if they truly meant it when they accepted Christ,” I responded. But my hopes that he’d wander back to God didn’t materialize.

Jesus’ story of the two sons mirrors numerous families. Whether we call them strays, prodigals, wanderers, or black sheep matters not. Either way, they are gone from the faith. But the story also gives hope of their return and assures us God will accept them when they do.

Many find hope in the verse, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). I’m sure my parents did when I was doing my wandering.

No path we wander on is too far for God to welcome us home if we come to our senses and repent. But we must decide to do so, be sincere, turn around, and head in the right direction. Home doesn’t move; we do.

Like the father, God still waits with open arms to welcome my son and any other strays home. If you’ve wandered away, He’s also still waiting for you.  

What keeps you from turning to God?

Father, I thank You that Your arms are always open to those who decide to come home. 

Tweetable: Have you strayed? 

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