DAILY DEVOTION: "Come Home"

Day 11: Come Home

Scripture: (Joel 2:12–13) “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

Author: Joyce Bryant

The day I turned eighteen, I proclaimed my independence from my parents. I packed my things in boxes and moved out of their house. With an attitude of self-assurance, the communication was cut off. I had no contact with them for six months. I thought I could live independently when really, I was quite dependent on them. (This eighteen-year-old didn’t pay for health insurance . . . )

Six months into my adventure, the Lord spoke to my heart. He told me it was time to go home and honor my parents. The very next day, as I was pondering the Lord's conviction, my mom came to my place of work. She didn't say much, but what she did say spoke volumes. She said, “It's time to come home.”

I'll never forget calling my dad. I'll never forget asking for forgiveness and asking if I could return home. I'll never forget his love, grace, and forgiveness—how enthralling it was. I was overwhelmed by his compassion. I savored the restoration of our relationship.

In the book of Joel, God the Father is calling his people to return to him, to “come home.” Though our circumstances are different, the calling is the same for us all. He longs for us to come to Him, to bring our brokenness, our failures, even our rebellion.  Remember this: the Lord is far more gracious and merciful than even my dad was.

As we begin this new year, do you need to return home to the Lord? Is there an area where you need to be completely dependent on Him instead of striving to display your independence? I know I have areas. Come, let's return together—the Father is waiting.

“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”