Coming Home

 

 

The Christmas season is a time for coming back home. When I went away to college, I was always excited to come back home to my family. After my wife and I were married, we still enjoyed going back to our parents’ homes to visit during the Christmas season. Nowadays, we are always thrilled to have our daughter home at Christmas break to stay with us for awhile.  The joy of coming back home and getting together again isn’t diminished by how many times we may have done the same thing before. It feels good to have our family unit restored, if only for a little while.

 

God is equally happy when we come back to be with Him. The parable of the Prodigal Son indicates this. The father in the parable eagerly awaited his son’s return even though the son had no doubt caused him much grief when he left.  “But while [the son] 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” (Lk 15:20). The father also tried to convince his other son to be glad for his brother’s return and not to focus on what his brother did to cause their separation.

 

Let us use this Christmas season as a time of restoration, to God if we have drifted away from Him, and also to any individuals with whom we have relationships that need to be repaired and restored.  Let us also try to be more like the Father who was eager to be restored and not like the brother who chose to remain angry and separated.

 

May we all experience the tender love of our Father who eagerly awaits us this Christmas.  May we experience the renewed love and fellowship of family and friends.