1 SAMUEL 7

What a beautiful message in 1 Samuel 7. Here, we see God as the universal Lover, taking back His wayward people yet again, opening His arms to His prodigal son one more time.

"Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, 'If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.' So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only... Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him." (vs 2-4, 9)

So, just a simple question today: What, exactly, can we do to make God reject us when we try to come back home? And there is a simple answer for this simple question: Nothing. There is absolutely nothing we can do to make God reject us. If we run away from home 500 times and return 500 times, He will welcome us with open arms 500 times.

I wish more Christians understood this and lived it and preached it! The danger with sin is not that God will reject us, but that we will ultimately reject Him. The danger with sin is not that God won’t welcome us home, but that we might get to the place where we will never go home again.

It really doesn’t matter what we’ve done. It really doesn’t matter how long we’ve been away from home. It really doesn’t matter how far we have gone. If we are willing to go home, we will find a Father who is eager to throw a party for us. If we will turn back, we will find a Father who runs out to meet us on the road. We will find a God who has been longing for us to return since the moment we left.He holds no grudges. He seeks no revenge. He will always take you back.