There are times where all of us find ourselves feeling separated from God. Since we know that His love is unfailing and never changing, we must recognize that if there is any distance between us and the Father, it’s because we have moved. Today, if you feel like you are no longer as close to your Heavenly Father as you once were, follow the example of a young man in Scripture who showed us how to follow the road back home.
Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Sheep aren’t the smartest animals. They can’t really help it, it’s just the way they’re wired. For the most part, sheep look for food, water, and somewhere that appears safe to sleep. Unfortunately for them, they’re minimally sized brains often leads to them getting into more trouble than they were banking on. Sheep often find themselves wandering away from the flock (and in turn, the shepherd) in pursuit of something that they already have.
In some parts of the world, people still keep watch over their sheep similarly to how it was done in the Bible. There are still people who spend most of their time out in the field with a herd of sheep, trying to ensure that none of them wander off the edge of a cliff or into the wilderness where they will be destroyed by a larger animal that ranks higher on the food chain. Try as they may, these shepherds can’t keep every sheep safe at all times. Sheep simply aren’t that smart.
We don’t really like to be compared to these slow animals, but if we’re being honest, we aren’t all that different. The Bible doesn’t say that we’re like sheep because we often make poor decisions. Instead, the Holy Spirit prompted Isaiah to take a more diplomatic approach to the topic. We’re all like sheep because each of us have strayed away. At some point, we have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet, through Christ, God made a way for us to return to Him.
Today, if you feel distant from God, there are a couple things that you must accept if you’re going to return. First of all, He isn’t the one who moved. As we are about to learn, our distance from God is based on our own decisions to fulfill our desires. Secondly, we’re never too far gone to come home. Let today be the day that you make your way back home. The Father is waiting.
The Parable of the Lost Son
There is perhaps no better example of finding your way back home than Christ’s parable of the lost son. Within this story, we find the motivations for our own wandering, what we must do to make things right, and the true heart of our Father when we make the decision to come home.
Luke 15:11-12 (NLT)
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
At this point in the story, many people give the younger son a bit of a bad rap. This is due to a cultural issue that clouds or judgement. In the United States in 2023, we cannot imagine a child telling their parent that they want their inheritance while the parent is still living. We view it as disrespect. However, that wasn’t the case in Biblical days. History teaches us that it was common for parents to go ahead and give their children at least a portion of their inheritance because they wanted to be alive to see their children enjoy the fruits of their labor.
The young man asking for his share of the estate wasn’t uncommon or disrespectful. However, the father probably knew how the story was going to turn out. Much like God, he chose to give his son free will.
God will never force us to stay close to Him. While He longs for a close, intimate relationship with each of His children, He also allows us to experience free will, meaning that we get to choose just how close we are.
Luke 15:13 (NLT)
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.”
The younger son who took his share of the estate did two things to put distance between himself and his father in this verse. First, he went to a distant land. Geographically, he wanted to get away from his father’s house and from the rules that he lived under there. Secondly, he wanted to distance himself emotionally, mentally, and spiritually from that same type of system.
When we find ourselves drifting away from God, we typically take the same approach. Obviously, our relationship with God is a spiritual one, but when we start wandering like sheep, we typically also indulge in a geographic, physical distancing from the things of God. This is primarily found in a lapse in our church attendance.
If you find yourself being less interested in being around other Christians, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re starting to put some distance between yourself and God. Again, He won’t force you to stay close. He gives each of us agency over the paths that we choose. However, in the same way that a sheep who is wandering away distances itself from the flock, we do the same thing.
Additionally, he chose to morally distance himself from his father through the “wild living” that he partook in. Undoubtedly, he had lived one way when he was with his father, but now that he was on his own, he chose a different path.
Luke 15:17 (NLT)
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even hired servants have food enough to spare and here I am dying of hunger.’”
After a famine took over the land where he was staying, the younger son, who had spent his entire inheritance found himself living with pigs and tempted to eat the scraps that their owner gave to them. This “rock bottom” moment caused him to come to his senses.
In order to come to his senses, he had to take responsibility for his own actions. We must do the same. If you find yourself distant from God, you must recognize that you are the one who made the decision to walk away. The youngest son couldn’t begin his journey home until he recognized that he was at fault.
While taking responsibility is difficult, it’s the first step in repentance and the renewal that it provides.
Luke 15:20 (NLT)
“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.”
The father saw him coming from a “long way off” because the father was looking for the son. He knew how things were going to go, but because he loved his son enough to give him free will, he still let him try things on his own. However, he was eager to forgive his son and restore him once the son came to his senses and came back home.
Our Heavenly Father affords us the same freedom. He knows that our desires will often put distance between us and Him, but He allows us to explore them. However, He’s always eager to welcome us back home once we come to our senses and realize that He is where we belong.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I know that my own sinful, selfish desires have put distance between me and You. I need You to forgive me and to restore me just like the father did in the parable of Christ. Renew me, forgive me, and restore me into Your family. In Christ’s name, Amen.