Didn’t Have To Run

Yesterday, my wife was asking me about my younger years of rebellion—my “prodigal son” days. She wondered how far away from God I felt like I was back then…

Did you believe you had run away from God? Did you see yourself as truly on the outside, no longer part of the family of God?

It didn’t take me long to answer. Yes, I did.

Back then, I didn’t have such a generous view of the family of God.

What I understood from the teaching of the church at that time was clear: Do those things, and you are not part of us. More specifically, do those things, and you are not part of Him.

So I chose. I rebelled and wandered away. I ran.

That doesn’t mean I stopped believing in God. Oh, I still believed. And I lived in a constant state of anxiety over the rapture and the judgment of God.

I believed I was an outsider, that I had given up my place at the table. I believed God was angry with me and therefore, I should keep my distance.

As I was telling my wife about how I felt back then, I realized how different my understanding is today.

I’m amazed by the magnitude of God’s kindness—his grace, his patience, his love for us.

I have a far more generous view of the family of God now.

I see that I didn’t have to run.

God wasn’t kicking me out of the family. He didn’t give my place at the table to someone else.

This is what I want all the sinners, doubters, prodigals, and misfits to understand…

You’re family. There is a place at the table for you.

Through him (Christ) God reconciled everything to himself. This includes you who were once far away from God. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. You must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. —Colossians 1.20-23 NLT

Notice what we are to do in response, when we receive the Good News that God has reconciled us to himself: continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it—don’t drift away from the assurance you received.

This means we don’t have to run.

Our sin no longer separates us from God.

Jesus paid for our sins and has declared us to be holy and blameless as we stand before him…

So continue to believe this truth, and stand firm in it.

Don’t drift away from the assurance you received.

You are family—there is a place at the table for you.

ADDITIONAL POSTS IN THIS SERIES:

Thankful Our Father Isn’t The Well Digger

Kindness Revealed

Your Place At The Table Is Saved & It Is Safe