After all I’ve done, why would God take me back now?
Have you made some bad decisions in life? Surely everybody has. Some are more serious than others, some more consequential, and some may have had a very bad effect on yourself or other people. Are you struggling with guilt, embarrassment, shame, or just the negative consequences of your own decisions? Are you carrying around a huge emotional burden because of what you have done? Are you wondering if God still cares for you and if He will forgive you even now?
This may sound hard to believe, but God is desperately trying to reach out to you, show you how much He still cares for you and wants to forgive you right now for everything. To prove this Jesus taught a little lesson about a father and his two sons. The younger son demanded his share of his father’s estate so he could run off on his own. He runs off and squanders the wealth “in wild living”. Finding himself destitute and in the midst of a severe famine in the land, he hires himself out to a pig farmer. Seeing firsthand that the pigs were eating better than him, he decides to return to his father and beg to be allowed to serve as a hired servant on the estate.
“So he got up and went to his father. 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.’”
This is how God sees you now.
No matter who you are or what you have done, if you are ready to unload your burden, admit to God what you have done, and believe that his only Son gave up his life as payment for your sins, then God wants to welcome you home.
