Text: Luke 15:18 NKJV
Further Reading: Luke 15:11-32
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
Luke 15:18 NKJV
MESSAGE
Today’s message is an appeal to those who have strayed and gone far away from God to return to Christ, their first love. Nothing can be more heartbreaking than betrayal from the one whom we loved, such is what we do when we depart from the Lord to pursue other things.
Before we blame the prodigal son, we must look at our lives and ask honest questions. Have we also not left our God and the first love we have for him? Today, we see the heart of once fervent brothers and sisters taken over by the pleasure of the world.
Many have forgotten the warning in the word of God never to love the world and things in it (1 John 2:15-17). They have in full swing made a dangerous friendship with the world, and made themselves God’s enemy (James 4:4).
Though the beginning of such an adventure in the world may look promising, the end will be fatal. No one leaves the Lord for the world and comes back complete. It is better to turn today like the prodigal son and return home to God your Father.
No matter how bad your life is now, God is still going to take you back. He is making a serious appeal to you to come.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:18 KJV
God means business, He is calling you to come now. While you still have the opportunity to return back to your maker, go back now. Do not allow the transient things of the world to tie you down. The pleasure of the world is but for a moment, those who pursue it do so at the peril of their soul.
Do you want to perish with the world? Remember Lot’s wife who because of the worldly things of Sodom looked back and became a pillar of salt. Instead of looking into the world, why not embrace the loving arms of the savior calling you to come back home? The choice is yours, but for how long, I don’t know.
REFLECTION
Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:7 NKJV
Why delay any longer? Go back to your Father, He will have mercy and receive you back.
PRAYER
Father, please give me the courage to always retrace my step back to you anytime I err. Fan to flame the first of your love in my heart again.
