Prodigal Come Home

Prodigal come home – the cry of the Father’s heart to the children who were brought up in church, yet have been drawn away by the empty promises of the world.
The NLT version of the Bible tells us in Proverbs 22:6 – “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

My personal experience of this is so true.  I was brought up in church and taught Biblical truths about a whole range of things.  Whilst I walked far from God for over thirty years I still maintained high moral standards in many areas of my life.  I knew right from wrong and endeavoured to be a “good person”, helping others, being honest, kind and thoughtful (OK so I failed quite often, but I tried!)

The one area where I blocked God out was my sex life.  I was so aware that what I chose to do was so far from his plan for men and women that I didn’t even to try to justify myself, I simply closed the door and told God he wasn’t having access to that part of my life.  I was adamant, perhaps too adamant, but of course that reflected my heart which always recognised that same sex relationships were sinful and not what God had planned for my life.  So it was easier to shut the door and ignore than to face up to and address.

Of course, God was never going to leave me in that position, he was crying out “Prodigal come home” over my life for many years.  He needed me to open that door, to contemplate my choices in light of the path on which I had been led to so many years before.  As I returned to church as a 48 year old out lesbian, he made that space for me to remember his promises to me, to remember the path I had embarked on and to recognise that I hadn’t veered that far off it.  And it was in that space that I built a desire to be fully back on his path to receive his best for me.

I believe that God is calling out to his prodigals today, he is passionate about the many church kids who have been tempted into the LGBTQ+ community and he wants to remind them that he has so many great things for them.  God isn’t interested in wooing them back to a church of empty promises and teachings that go against the grain of all he stand for.  No, he wants to call them back to a church which offers them truth, a church that sees their potential and gives them space to meet Him to hear his calling for their lives.
 
If you are a prodigal, it doesn’t matter how far you have fallen, God will have you back in the blink of an eye.  And if you’re the parent of a prodigal, never give up, never stop praying for your prodigal to come home.  God has a plan for 2023 and it involves prodigals coming home.  Pray with me that we may be able to meet them where they are at and open doors to salvation and pray that the liberal church will no longer be a stumbling block to our children as God calls them home.