Come To Jesus While You Still Can

🎧 READ TO ME

But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Luke 15:11-21 (New King James Version) 

Jesus used the story of the prodigal son to teach us about repentance. The prodigal son started his journey to repentance when he came to himself. That means from the day he asked his father to give him the portion of his inheritance up until the day he came to himself, he was actually not himself. He was a young man whose mind was not working as it should. What gives a young man the audacity to walk up to his father and ask for his inheritance? Mind you, there were no indicators of abuse, maltreatment or deprivation from the father towards the son. Nonetheless, his father granted the request.

It’s truly amazing that this son couldn’t wait for his father’s death to get his portion of the inheritance. He was just in a hurry to take charge of his life, and to make matters worse, he left home after his father had granted his wish. Long story short, he squandered all the inheritance given to him by his father with prostitutes and fake friends, and then resorted to eating with pigs in a far away country.

His repentance was real

The turning point came when he remembered that servants in his father’s house had enough food to eat, yet he was dying of hunger in a strange land. He had to honestly evaluate his situation and life. After his evaluation, he realized that he didn’t look too good and needed to take steps to turn his life around (see How To Enter The Victorious Life). Perhaps he thought, “if I don’t take these steps, I’ll definitely end up dead in this strange land.” This was his lowest point! He admitted that he had sinned against his father and needed to go back home. He acted quickly too. The son returned to his father and received a huge welcome. His REPENTANCE was real.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;”

Isaiah 53:6  (New King James Version)

From the above verse, it is evident that we have all gone astray (see The King And His Prince: The Fall From Glory). This is why Paul said “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NKJV). There is nothing wrong with going astray but the real danger is when we don’t find the right way back. 

Freedom to choose life

God has given us free will in this life. Whatever choices we make in life are up to us. If we choose Him, it pleases Him. If we don’t choose Him, He will not force us. However, He would rather that we choose Him as in Him is life. This is God’s expectation for us. He is ever ready to receive us back into His fold when we see the need to return to Him. We must not go back to the things we were redeemed from. We must remember that our experiences in the world were not pleasant. God wants us to taste something different from what we were used to in the world.

Always being honest to yourself is necessary (see Break The Chains Of Hypocrisy And Step Into A New Life With Self-honesty). You must remember that you are the best person to tell yourself the truth. If we don’t tell ourselves the truth, then our bad situations will always worsen. When we fail to do proper analysis of our situation in order to take the necessary steps, our conditions will not change.  As believers, we must bear in mind that being truthful to ourselves is the only way by which we can change our situation. As long as we are committed to taking the correct steps, our conditions will change for the better.

Let’s keep the fire burning until the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!