Walking Back Home

Caleb: My old Bible's in a box in the garage, name still on the cover. If I walked back now, would God be glad, or just tired of me?

Hannah: I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Luke's Gospel tells of a son who returned to his father, and this verse is the end of what the father said to his servants.

Scripture: for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.

Caleb: So the father was celebrating? I figured he'd be standing at the door with his arms crossed, ready to lecture him.

Hannah: Look at what happens just before it. While the son was still far off, his father saw him, ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him.

Caleb: The son said he wasn't worthy to be called a son.

Hannah: He said he wasn't worthy to be called a son anymore. His father just turned to the servants: best robe, a ring, shoes, the fattened calf.

Caleb: He came to his father and said he had sinned. His father had already run to embrace him.

Hannah: I've wandered too, and I lean on Jesus, not my record. I love you, and I want you at that table with me.

Caleb: What about the older brother, though? He sounds pretty angry about the party.

Hannah: He was angry and wouldn't go in. Even then, his father came out to him and begged him.

Caleb: In this story, the father met his son before he said a word. Could that be true for me?

Hannah: I don't have every answer, but in this story the father welcomed his son home. You can tell God honestly, 'I want to know you,' or tell me. Think about what you'd feel you had to explain first. Follow for more.