RETURN TO ME
There are times when we might stray from the Lord. Sometimes it lasts for a short period; sometimes it's for a longer period. When it happens God longs for our return and never gives up on us. He'll go out of his way to try to bring us to our senses so we would return to him.
People can be like that but it can be in an unhealthy way like when a couple breaks up and one person stalks the other. God's longing for our return is not based on being dependent on us or his obsessed with us; it's based on his love for us. And it's all for our benefit.
1) God calls for us to return to him.
In the time of Nehemiah the prophet, the Jews were in exile. God allowed the Babylonians to take them captive because they had rebelled against the Lord. The book of Nehemiah starts out with him getting a visit from one of his brothers, Hanani. Nehemiah asked how things were in Jerusalem. He received a bad report: the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates had been burned. Vs. 4 says when Nehemiah heard this he sat down and wept. In the following days he mourned, fasted and prayed.
Neh. 1:5-9, "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you night and day for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’"
Nehemiah acknowledges two things-how great God is and how unfaithful he and his people had been. This is important in returning to God. The reason we stray is because we've decided that God isn't so great anymore. We might not say that but that's how we're thinking and behaving. Maybe we came to Christ under false pretenses-that our lives would be wonderful and all our problems would be gone. When that doesn't happen we conclude it wasn't worth it and we go back to our old way of living.
Perhaps we're lured away by old habits or a new relationship. If we allow these things to pull us away we're concluding that God can't do for us what these other things or people can. We may even drift away by getting involved in good things. We become busy with volunteer work or projects and before you know it we're compromising on the most important thing-our relationship with Jesus.
We see Nehemiah acknowledged his disobedience. In order for us to return to God we need to conclude the problem is us, not him; the problem is us, not someone else. When Adam and Eve sinned, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. But Adam and Eve needed to take responsibility for their own actions, regardless of the actions of others.
Yes, Satan and others can play a part in negatively influencing us, but we have the ability and responsibility to stay true to God despite the actions of others. When we are in Christ, nothing can pull us away unless we allow it to happen.
In humility, Nehemiah acknowledges that God had warned his people what would happen if they were unfaithful. So, we can't blame God for the consequences of our actions when we move away from him.
Lam. 3:39-42, "Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven."
Why should we get upset at God when we suffer the consequences for our poor choices? We can either blame shift and wallow in pity or we can examine our ways, take responsibility for our actions, repent and return to God. When Jeremiah says, 'and you have not forgiven', it was because his people have not returned to God. Once they do return, God will be quick to forgive and restore.
2) God rejoices when we return.
If you read on in Nehemiah, you'll see that he had a plan to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. Returning to the Lord requires action. We can't just come to our senses, we need to act on it. When we do, there is much rejoicing.
Luke 15:11-20, "Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 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 men.’ So he got up and went to his father."
When he decided that he wanted to grab his inheritance and take off he became locked in to senselessness. When we begin our wayward walk we allow foolishness to take over. He partied and squandered, giving no thought to the fact that at some point the money would run out; then what would he do?
When we're caught up in foolishness we don't think, or care about the consequences; we're just living in the moment-living in the land of self. Then reality hits you; like you're waking up from a dream. That's what happened to our friend here. He finds himself being hired to take care of pigs; an unclean animal to the Jews. He became involved in unclean behavior so God put him with unclean animals.
So the man who had plenty of money and was living it up soon found himself broke and working with pigs. The famine played a role in his situation but he still made bad choices that led to where he was. We see the dramatic decline: at his father's he had a nice house with fine food. Now he was in a pig pen longing for pig slop.
Then reality slapped him in the face and he came to his senses; realizing he didn't need to live like this any longer. If we are going to bounce back from our sins and mistakes we will need to realize that we don't need to live in them any longer. This man saw his situation for what it was, became disgusted with it and knew he had to do something about it. He had another option to pursue.
In his plan we can see his humility. He would tell his father he wasn't worthy to be a son; just a hired hand. He knew he had messed up and was willing to accept the demotion. Coming back takes humility; we recognize our wrongdoing and accept responsibility. If we justify, rationalize, minimize or excuse our sins we won't bounce back from them, we'll just repeat them.
"He got up and went to his father". He follows through with the plan. He didn't just wish or dream, he took action. When we do wrong we might think of coming back, but we could dismiss it thinking we can't come back or it won't work if we try. Don't ever talk yourself out of coming back to Jesus. The Prodigal son didn't do that. He thought of a plan and he enacted it.
This shows he had hope. He couldn't predict how his father would respond but he had hope that he might accept his proposal. We won't come back if we don't have the hope that things can get better. And when he saw his father's response he got more than he had hoped for.
Vs. 21-24, “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. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate."
The son probably expected his father to be angry and start yelling at him; that's if he was willing to be around him at all. I'm sure he expected to have to beg his father to take him back. So it's safe to say that when he saw his father's joyful reaction he was surprised.
This helps us to come back too. First, we know God is waiting for our return when we mess up. Satan's lie is that God will reject us; that we're beyond the point of forgiveness and restoration. But when we know God is longing for our return and is joyful when we do return, we can be motivated to return.
The son didn't even get through his whole apology before the father expressed his joy. He saw his son's look of shame and had heard all he needed to hear to know it was sincere. When we're sincere and have hope that things can actually work out, maybe better than we think, we'll be encouraged to put down the pig pods and return to Jesus.
Not everyone was rejoicing, though. If you read on in the story, the older brother wasn't too happy with his father's joyful reception of his little brother's safe return. The father tried to explain that this was a matter of life and death-literally and spiritually. 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.’ ”
People can have a hard time letting someone come back. If someone left the church and went off to eat with the pigs, but then came to his senses and returned, how would we react? Like the father or the older son?
"What if he's not sincere? What if he does it again?" We can do our best to determine the sincerity of someone's return but in the end, we may have to take their word for it unless there's a good reason to conclude otherwise.
Do you know someone who has strayed? Maybe they want to come back but they're afraid to. They're repentant; sick of being with pigs and eating slop. But they need some encouragement to believe that God and the people of God are waiting for their return. Maybe you're the one who can help them before they slip any further.
Mary Magdalene in The Chosen. She was ashamed to come back. She was angry with herself; confused about how she could fall away after what Jesus had done for her. Matthew and Peter went looking for her and convinced her to come back.
Then she had to face Jesus. She didn't want to look him in the eye but he made her do it for a couple of reasons: she needed to feel the impact of her sin. When we wrong someone, we understand what we've done but when we have to face them and look them in the eye, it brings the impact of what we've done to a whole new level.
The other reason Jesus made her look him in the eye was so she could see the love he had for her. Any fear of rejection was removed when she saw the love and forgiveness in his eyes.
Jesus is serious about sin, but he is just as serious about forgiveness. He wants to remove the shame and guilt that keeps us from returning to him. He wants to show the depth of his love and mercy. He wants us to return to him so we can experience his restoration.
Isa. 44:22, "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
God calls for us to come to our senses and return home; realizing it was foolish to leave in the first place.
