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Luke 15:18-20 – "I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants." So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. (NIV 2011)
I was born and raised in Canada, and this will always be my home. One year after I graduated from high school, I moved to the United States. There I studied, trained, and worked for a total of ten years. I had learned, accomplished my goals, and changed a lot over those years and finally reached a point when I wanted to move back home.
I had lost touch with most of the people I knew, grew up with, and went to school with. As I commuted on the train into the city, I often looked around and wondered if any of the other commuters were people I had gone to school with or who at one point had lived in my neighbourhood. From time to time, I would come across a familiar face and spend hours, or sometimes days, trying to figure out where I knew them from and who they were. Or I would read about a person and think, Wait a minute, I know that name, but I can't picture what they look like. Did they attend my high school? Did I know them from a church I attended? What other activities was I involved in growing up that this person might have been in as well? Occasionally, I would figure it out, but sometimes, I wouldn't. I recognized their face, but the context was so different that I couldn't remember their name. Or I could recognize their name but couldn't picture their face or remember how I knew them.
Sometimes, this happens in our relationship with God. Our church attendance begins to dwindle for whatever reason. Slowly, we begin to drift away from God. We forget about Him, the times we spent together, the conversations we had, and the grace He showed us. His name and His mercies begin to fade. From time to time, we get a reminder of His name or His presence with us, but we have a difficult time figuring out what happened to the relationship we had.
How amazing it is that God doesn't forget our name or face! No matter how far we drift away, He is always there with open arms waiting to welcome us back.
Luke 15:32 – But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. (NIV)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You that You don't forget our names or what we look like, no matter how much time has elapsed or how much we have let our relationship with You deteriorate. Thank You for waiting for us with loving, open arms. Amen.
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Excellent devotion, Corinne. Right again!
Absolutely! Thanks for writing this devotional. You blessed my day. Blessings.
Loved your devotion this morning Corrine. Somehow it resonated with me as I seem to be having many occurrences when I don’t remember someone’s name and yet they call me by name. But how reassuring to be reminded that God remembers us. Thank you for your devotion this morning. I loved it.
Dear Corinne,
Thank you for your gracious devotional encouraging persons who are away from God to come back into his loving arms.
God reaches out in love saying, “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (selected from passages). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Amen.
We thank him.
Keep writing.
The part of that story I find the most intriguing is the Father’s reaction. He is so joyful to see his child again back in the fold that He wants to hear nothing His son has to say. He is just too happy to have him back.
God give us the grace never to forget that God wants no recriminations. He wants only to welcome us back into His loving arms: every time everywhere, in every condition and under any circumstance. All we have to do is fall into His loving arms. Nothing else is needed. Jesus paid all the price. Isn’t it wonderful to have a God so loving.
Blessings.
Good Morning Corinne:
“How amazing it is that God doesn’t forget our name or face! No matter how far we drift away, He is always there with open arms waiting to welcome us back”
A beautiful message assuring us of God’s steadfast and unconditional love for we who sometimes “place Him on the back shelf in our lives”.
I loved this message, it made me realize, one more time, what a dear and faithful friend our Lord truly is although we are often not a true and faithful friend to Him.
Thank you so much.
Dear Corrine: Thank you for today’s message.
We will certainly pray for your son & his family.
Dear Corinne,
Thanks for the thought for today. Sadly those of us who have been round for many years meet people for a season and then things change and we move on. I sometimes wonder why, but that is to deny the vaguaries of life.
How good it is to know that God knows us for a season: from our first to our last breath.
Once we have come to know God, He is always with us even when we forget Him, because The Word says He is always faithful. Ok, we may be sheepish before the throne when we get back, but God’s Love is greater.
Praise God for people such as yourself who can remind us of His Love.
Blessings.