MAKE YOUR WAY BACK HOME TO GOD
You may have heard stories of young girls who made mistakes in secondary school and got pregnant. They had to leave school to have their babies or they went for abortions. But before you knew it, they considered themselves tainted and unworthy of their former dreams. So rather than pick up from where they were before the unfortunate incident, they resigned themselves to more ill-advised sexual encounters leading to more babies born out of wedlock and lives of struggle financially and emotionally.
You may also have heard of young men who through negative peer influence were introduced to drugs and petty theft as teenagers. Rather than retrace their steps after their first encounter with the law, they went deeper into crime and drug abuse.
It doesn’t matter what the sin is or whether we call it sin or not. Doing something wrong makes us feel condemned and undeserving of God’s help and attention. The tendency is for the devil to come in when we have erred to offer us dubious relief for the psychological dissonance we feel. He may proffer justifications for what we did:
“Your parents were poor and there was no food at home. What else could you have done but steal or sleep around?”
“Everybody is taking drugs and getting high? Why should you be the only one playing ‘holy’ and missing out?”
From justifying our actions, it’s just a small step to becoming caught in a vicious cycle of ultimately unprofitable and self-harming behaviour.
But we can be smart. We can be free. One mistake, two or whatever number, should not be allowed to define our lives. Although He may be the last person we want to see or talk to, although we may be convinced He is very mad at us for messing up, God is the One we need to be running to when we’ve screwed up. Yes, He is angry at sin, but He also longs to wash us clean and give us a fresh start.
[pullquote]Repent now. Accept God’s forgiveness and salvation.[/pullquote]
The prodigal son learnt this when, after squandering his inheritance in rioutous living, he picked up the courage to go back home. He didn’t expect anything but servitude so that he wouldn’t die of hunger, but he received a most unexpected and emotional welcome from his father.
“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
“And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” – Luke 15:20-24 (ESV)
Related: MY LOVE AWAITS (POEM)
Don’t allow the devil or anyone else to convince you that you are done for, that there’s no hope or redemption for you. God loves you and He is earnestly waiting even now for you to come to Him, to acknowledge your mistakes and surrender your life to Him.
You don’t have to bury yourself deeper into trouble by popping more hard pills, taking more lives via abortion or otherwise, betting for that elusive mega win or whatever else you’ve been derailed into. Just stop where you are right now, turn around and turn to God. Ask Him to forgive you, to cleanse you and renew you. Ask Him to pull you up to where He is, away from the filth, the stench and the hopelessness of sin.
God is your Father, your Creator. He longs to help you, He yearns to beautify you. Break that bond with sin and Satan today and run home to Him. He is waiting to wipe your tears and make you whole again. Make your way back to God today. Do not delay.
Why go on a road that leads back into the cesspool and bondage of sin when you can repent and receive God’s cleansing and freedom today?
Just talk to Him in your own words and receive the peace and restoration that only He can provide. May God bless you bountifully as you do this in Jesus’ name.
This post needs to be read by everyone. People need to know that there’s another way out instead of going deeper in the sins they’ve committed until eventually, they get swallowed in it.
Merry Christmas Aunty Edith.
Merry Christmas to you too, Chiamaka!
I felt like this post was written with me in mind. Sometimes when I do something wrong I feel too filthy to talk to God. This post tells me differently. I’m happy I clicked on it even though I was a bit reluctant to do so. Thank you ma.
God bless you, Joy!
“The prodigal son learnt this when, after squandering his inheritance…”. This part got me!. As Christians we are entitled, heirs and participants of His grace, academic excellence, favour etcetera but we have squandered our rights. We feel we are banished. We have no idea that the God who provided what you squandered, is able to provide “abundantly above all we could ask for”.
Indeed, He not only can restore us, He longs to do so. Halleluyah!
Wow! Thank you Ma. I was really blessed by this. There’s something about the prodigal son that fascinates me. While the prodigal son was walking home, the father was running towards him. That’s how much our merciful Father wants us back regardless of what we’ve done.
God bless you Ma
It’s incredible how loving God is. May we respond rather than rebuff that love always in Jesus’ name.
I have heard of redemption , of being lost and found and the undying love of Christ but now I can boldly say that I have not only heard but was and still is a recipient of that unfailing love.
Ma, thank you so much for this post. Funny because I was discussing with my sister some weeks ago about the power of guilt, how it makes you run away from God instead of running to him. Females who lose their virginity early feel since they have lost it, there is no need being sane and this puts them in a horrible place. It’s by the grace of God that we are his children. He loved us enough to the point that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God’s love is so amazing and people have to come to the realization of that fact in order to make their way back to him
It is better late than never. God always long for his children to come back to him because of his unfading love for us. No matter the sin that one has committed that he think he is no longer worthy of being his child, God is merciful and by his word, he will forgive him just like the father of the prodigal son forgave his son. Thank you ma for such a reminder, God bless you
Thank you ma I was indeed blessed!
God is always ready to accept us not minding the weight of the sin we committed but what he desires is a repentant heart and will make up his heart not to live in sin anymore which we saw in the prodigal son story. Just like he said in his word, he came for the sinners and not the saints.
This post is really inspiring ,,no matter what we have done in the past ,,we should never let it drag us down ..the devil has a way of making us guilty and making us feel worthless and useless to the society…we should ask God for forgiveness ,get back on our feet and keep pursuing our dreams..thank u ma for this???
“My brother my sister come home” personally this is so punchy and has provoked my emotion, no matter how bad we think are or how far we think we have gone wallowing in sin thinking we have been enslaved by a particular sin, Our father in heaven is wholeheartedly waiting for us to return to him, like you said ma, ‘stop there ‘ let’s put aside procrastination and return to him now,Oh Jesus forgive my sins and receive me back to your holy presence. Thank you ma
Salvation is truly a GIFT FROM GOD and OF GOD to MANKIND… In a time like this when people don’t have hope and love, the only route to a good life(both in eternity and on this side of the great divide).. John 15 vs 1-10. Don’t ever let the horrors of sin take you away from the Joy that salvation brings.
I stop praying when the weight of my sins overwhelm me. But what happens afterwards? I sink deeper and deeper in the whirlpool of sin because I cut myself off from the forgiveness and mercy of God.
If I had always known how important it is to draw closer to God especially when you’re in the worst position, I would have made many different decisions.
Thank you ma for this.
No matter what we indulge ourselves in, God is always been ready to take us back. I’m happy I read this. Thanks for reminding me of His unconditional love.
There is no depth, height or weight that can deny you of God’s reckless love. Even in your worthlessness his love still chases you, his mercy is always ready to embrace the long gone prodigal. It’s not too late to return.
One terrible thing that has held people down is guilt. This has hindered them even more than the sin itself. When we sin and find it difficult to forgive ourselves, how do we expect God to forgive us.
The truth remains that at every point in time when we wrong God, He is just patiently waiting for our return. Even 1John 2:1 said it all. But sad enough, we are scared to show face to God and that makes us keep piling sin. God help us.
Thank you ma for this exhortation.