| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 36 |
Page 6 |
One of the most beautiful pictures of this story is the picture it gives of the father. “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him.” Evidently he had been watching for his boy. That is a way fathers have — mothers too. No matter where the child may wander, the loved ones at home never forget him. I knew a home from which a boy had been gone for twenty-seven years. Not a word eve had come from him during that time. Yet not a night passed but the widowed mother sat at the window, hour after hour, watching the street that went by the door, hoping that she might see her lost son returning.
And at last one night he came.
So God watches for the beginnings of repentance. We have not to trudge all the way back and knock at the door to get God’s attention when we desire to return to Him. He sees the penitent afar off. And that was not all. This father “ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” Every word here has a volume of meaning in it. Let your heart interpret it. The father saw his son in rags, in ruin, and his heart broke. Then he “ran.” How glad he was to see his boy returning home! How glad God is to see His child returning!
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