August 6, 2013
“He got right up and went home to his father. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him…” Luke 15:20 The Message
You can be a long way from home and still remember His grace. Sometimes remembering brings up guilt and you try to stuff back down or push it aside. But remembering is a gift of God’s grace because without it … you might just perish. What makes you remember? It might be the misery of unrelenting tyranny. It might be the glitter of sin’s deceitfulness. It might be the longing to be home. Home is the place of freedom … unfailing promise … and your place in your Father’s heart. You can be a long way off or even nearby but distant from your Heavenly Father. Jesus describes a long-distance son and an embittered brother who both were a long way from home. The way home is the path Jesus made for you. He saw you and He came running for you. He knew you could never make it home by yourself. So … The Running One comes after you. He sees the miles you’ve walked. He sees the miles you’ve carried. He sees the scars from sin’s lies. He sees the emptiness .. the brokenness .. the brazenness .. the powerlessness .. and He sees your surrender at whatever distance you start home. He sees all the good things around you that sometimes blocks your view of home. Even amazing still is that God wants to make His home in you. This is One who invites you to come home: “I am the Way.” Jesus still meets men and women at the lowest points of their lives and leads them home … their true home with Him. Your lowest point may be at your highest elevation. It may be a dark place in your life. It may be in the center of all the activity that fills your day and leaves you empty. A long way off? It only takes a moment…
“Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.” Romans 6:14 The Message
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Homeward Bound Followers of Jesus and friends of Priority One (kchesterP1@gmail.com)
