Pastor, Peabody Bible Church
“I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”
The young man practiced what he would say to his father. Each repetition reminding him of what he had thrown away. He kept walking, retracing his steps on the road that had led him away from everything that his eyes were now desperate to see.
He knew he could not repay his father for his wasted share of the family estate. The riches had vanished as quickly as the so-called friends on which he squandered it. All he could do now was confess his sins and hope for a place to sleep and food to eat as one of the hired servants. And if his father would not allow him to stay, he would at least express his repentance to his father’s face. And, sadly, the young man knew that he had no hope of being loved as a son again. But perhaps he could work as a servant, maybe even begin to repay the large sum his father had given him.
The sun blasted him as he trudged along the road until, finally, he came to the area where the road went up the side of the hill. He walked to the top and the sight of his father’s house in the distance crushed his heart even more.
Then he saw someone in the distance coming toward him — and the person was running.
To be continued ...