Coming Home

Psalm 32:1-5 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Sweet forgiveness, like a rushing wind blowing the dirt and grime out of our souls, relief from the bone deep decay and groaning that haunts us when we cover, minimize, justify, or deny our own sin. Such was the psalmist David’s state--his ‘vitality was turned into the drought of summer.’ The drought was only broken when he acknowledged his sin to God, confessing not hiding his transgressions. In Luke 15 the prodigal finds himself in a similar situation. After sinning against God and his father, ‘wasting his possessions in prodigal living,’ he came to his senses in a pigsty. Luke 15:17 “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! He recognized that his father was good and generous. Romans 2:4 says...’the goodness of God leads us to repentance. With a humble and contrite heart he determines to go and confess his sin to his father and to ask for help. Luke 15:18-19 “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.’ The son takes action and turns his back on the far country and comes home to his father, where he is embraced, welcomed, and restored. When we first come to Christ and whenever we sin, we come to repentance in much the same way as did the prodigal son and David. Recognizing the Father’s goodness and generosity, with humble and contrite hearts, we turn our backs on the far country and head home to be embraced by our heavenly Father through Jesus, our Lord. Admitting that we can’t do anything about our sin, we seek His grace, His help in our time of need. Trusting Jesus’ promise that the one who comes to Him, He will by no means cast out. (John 6:37) And then...like a rushing wind... sweet cleansing. (1 John 1:9)