By LARRY TIMM

Pastor Peabody Bible Church

Memories of his father and his father’s house rose up in his mind, as though resurrected from a deep, dark grave. He remembered the comfort he had rejected, the love he had shunned, and the father he had forsaken. He wondered if his father could ever forgive him.

Resentment tried to prod him into questioning his father’s love — “If he loves you, why doesn’t he come looking for you or send his servants to bring you home?” But he knew why no one had come and why no one would: even had they forced his body to return home, his rebellious will and wayward heart would have gone farther away. Grief squeezed his heart as more memories of his home emerged from the shadowy corners of his mind.

“What have I done?” he shouted.

But the question was really a confession; he was now painfully aware of what he had done. But clear thoughts of home began to replace the empty gloom and he began to feel the light of hope breaking over the dark horizon of his soul. He would have no trouble swallowing his pride because it had been crushed into small pieces in this far away place.

“How many of my father’s servants have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!” Determination ignited within him and he said, “I will get up and go back to my father!”

Then he wondered what he would say to the father he had left behind.

To be continued