Life as a Christian is an awesome adventure. As we travel on this journey, we experience great joy and the wonderful peace of God. As we grow in the Lord and draw closer to Him, we wonder how anyone could turn away from this glorious way of life! But, unfortunately they do and it saddens our heart. How can we get then back to God??? There are ups, downs, and unexpected turns and though one may go back, the one thing we don’t want is to lose hope.
There is good news for our backslidden AMY! God does not condemn her. God’s loving concern for AMY is steadfast and sure. The Lord calls her back to Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit. We can see this clearly in the parable of the prodigal son. In the parable, the father saw his son returning while he was still far off. But the father did not lock the doors or demand that his son leave. Instead, the father welcomed his return. “…the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the BEST ROBE and put it on her, and put A RING on her hand and SANDALS on her feet. And bring the FATTED CALF here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this MY DAUGHTER WAS DEAD AND IS ALIVE AGAIN; she was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:22-24)
-Bill Stockham