Can you go home again?
Can you go home again?
When I was growing up I was blessed in having two places that were home to me. One was the farm where my mother's family lived and the other was the house in town where my grandma Remington lived. Although my bedroom was in the house on the farm, I spent almost as much time staying at my grandma Remington's house as I did the farm.
On the farm I had plenty of opportunity to spend time doing outdoors stuff like hiking, shooting guns, fishing, blowing stuff up for the fun of it, camping, sledding, catching snakes, playing in the barn and working on the farm. I could spend time being alone in the woods or do things with just my immediate family on the farm because we were pretty isolated from other people my age. I could be almost as loud as wanted since my nearest neighbor was more than a quarter mile (half a kilometer) away. When I was studying math or science, I sometimes had the music turned up so loud that the entire house shook! It was awesome! The farm was where I could work in whatever manner suited me without being disturbed and the farm was my refuge when I needed one.
At my Grandma Remington's I had opportunities do all fun kinds of things with my aunts, uncles and cousins like play games. We would also have all kinds of interesting discussions about anything and everything. Occasionally a fight would break out, which was considered a sport by the Remingtons, that would continue until everyone got tired of fighting or one of the uncles decided that things were getting out of hand and put an end to it. Also my Grandma Remington's was one of those places where everyone in town felt comfortable being at. When my extended family was not there, there was always a bunch of people about my age hanging out there. We were always engaged in doing something like playing cards or having a bottle rocket war or planning a camp out. Lastly Grandma Remington's gave me a place to stay after school which allowed me to participate in all kinds of extracurricular activities that I otherwise could not have participated in. Grandma Remington's was where I went to be myself and just have fun.
I had the best of both worlds.
However, when I got older my Grandma Remington's house burned down and then she died a few years later. My grandfather died, my uncle lost the farm and then my other grandma died. There simply is no home for me to go back to. As the saying goes, you can't go home again.
Or can you?
You see there is another home that some have lived in at one time in their lives but have left when they got older and that is the House of Truth. Perhaps you are one of those that left the House of Truth and you are wondering if you can go home again.
The Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) told a story that answers the question: "Can you go home again?"
The first thing to notice is that the younger son was living in the house with his father at the beginning of the story (Luke 15:11) Were you living in the House of Truth with the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) at the beginning of your story?
Notice next that the younger son was more interested in what his father could give him than he was in being with his father so he could become like him (Luke 15:12). Perhaps you were more interested in what you could get from the Father of Truth than spending time with the Father of Truth so you could become like Him.
Now notice that the father allowed the younger son to leave his house when he insisted on going (Luke 15:12). The father may have pleaded with the younger son to stay in his house and live under his rules before this point but he did not force the younger son to do so. The Father of Truth gave you a free will and He will never force you to stay in the House of Truth.
The next thing to notice in the story is that the younger son had to go far from his home to carry out his desires that were contrary to the will of his father (Luke 15:13). If the younger son could have carried out his desires at home then he probably would have. This would have allowed him to live the party lifestyle that he wanted to live longer since he would would not have had to spend some of his inheritance on renting some place to live. He might have then tried to convince his father to give him more money when he ran out. It would have been very advantageous in carrying out the plans of the younger son if his father would have allowed him to remain at home without obeying the rules of his father. If you left the House of Truth then it was because you realized that you could not live there while being disobedient to the Father of Truth.
We can image some of the things that the younger son might have said to his father before he finally left home. The younger son may have told his father that he had wished he was dead so he did not have to live under his rules. The younger son may have told his father that he must have hated him for imposing his rules on him in the first place. The younger son may have threatened to leave his house unless the father removed his rules. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: The father would not change his rules in order to keep the younger son in his house. In like manner, the Father of Truth is holy, holy, holy and He will never change His laws to keep you in His house.
When the younger son was far from his father he was finally free from what he thought were the tyrannical rules of his father. He now lived with people that did not know his father and had no interest in the rules of his father. These people got him. These people were into the things that he was into. These people were all too glad to help him in his quest to do everything that his father had taught him not to do. These people were all too glad to help him to stay away from doing the things that his father taught him to do. The younger son had people that would help him in quest to party, party, party (Luke 15:13).
These people would not confront him for getting drunk because they were doing that too. These people would not confront him for having sex outside of marriage because they were doing that too. These people would not confront him for whatever drugs he took because they were doing that too. These people would not preach to him about using what his father gave him responsibly because they did not use what they had responsibly. These people would tell him that he was really a good person because after all he was just like them. These people would never make the younger son feel convicted or judged because after all he was just like them. The younger son had finally found what he thought was love and acceptance. Did you feel like you were more accepted by those that did not know the Father of Truth than those who did because they never confront you about your riotous living?
That is he found people that made him feel loved and accepted until his money ran out. The younger son had wasted everything that his father had given him and was helpless when trouble came (Luke 15:14). He probably asked his so-called friends for help but they had suddenly lost all interest in him. They would have had to stop their partying to really help the younger son. It might have required them to make real sacrifices to help the younger son get back on his feet. They had no interest in anyone accept themselves because after all they were just like him. Have you found that those that made you feel love and acceptance for rebelling against the Father of Truth were suddenly gone when your money ran out?
Things got so bad that he had to take a job feeding pigs, the worst imaginable job for a Jewish boy to have, under slave like condition for wages so low that he was so hungry that he wanted to eat the carob pods (husks) that he was feeding the pigs even though people cannot digest carob pods. Even then no one was willing to help him (Luke 15:15-16). Have you found yourself living in the pig pen after trouble came?
At long last the younger son came to his senses. (The Book of Truth, Luke 15:17) He realized that his father was kind and good while those that did not know his father were selfish and evil. His father took care of his servants while his so-called friends only took cared of themselves. The love and acceptance that they offered the younger son had been conditional upon what he could do for them. Have you come to your senses?
The younger son finally told himself the truth: Everything that had happened to him was all his own fault (Luke 15:18). He had insisted on leaving his father because he had not wanted to abide in the house of his father where he would have to obey the rules of his father. He had gotten far away from his father so he could live under his own rules. He had surrounded himself with people that were just like him so he could feel good about his rebellion. His father had provided for him but he had wasted everything by refusing to obey the rules of his father. He was starving in the pigpen because he had not wanted to be like his father. Have you told yourself the truth?
Now the younger son realized that he was not worthy to be called the son of his father because he had not been obedient to his father (Luke 15:19). The younger son was now ready be a servant in the house of his father because he was willing to live under the rules of his father. The younger son could see that his father had imposed his rules upon everyone in his house because his father was wise, good and kind. The rules of his father kept people from coming to ruin. Are you now ready to be obedient to the Father of Truth so that you can live in the House of Truth?
Can you go home again?
As the younger son was walking home, his father saw him from a great distance (Luke 15:20). The father had been looking every day for his son to come home again. The father had not chased after the younger son when he left because he would not force his son to live in his house against his will. The father had not went to the far country to shut down his partying and drag his son back home because he would not force his son to live in his house against his will. The father had not rescued his son from living in the pigpen because he would not force his son to live in his house against his will. The father did not even leave to get his son when his son decided to come home because his son was the one that had to come home again. Instead, the father waited patiently for the son to come home again. The Father of Truth is waiting patiently for you to come home again.
When the father saw the younger son walking towards him he went running towards his son to shower him with affection (Luke 15:20). If you will walk back towards the Father of Truth, He will run to shower you with affection! The Father of Truth wants you to come home again more than you want to come home again.
The younger son admitted to his father that everything was his own fault because he had not imitated his father like a son by living under the rules of his father in the house of his father (Luke 15:21). The younger son knew that if he wanted to come home again then he had to let his father know that he was sorry for hurting his father by leaving his house. If you want to come home again, then you need to tell the Father of Truth that you are sorry for hurting Him by leaving the House of Truth.
How did the father respond?
The father brought him back into his house as a son (Luke 15:22)! He put the best robe on the younger son to replace his filth with beauty. He put a ring on his finger to show that he was his son and not his servant. He put shoes on his feet to separate him from the earth. The father didn't even let the younger son make his offer to be a servant in his house for he would have none of it. The father wanted the younger son to know that he was part of the family when he came home again. The Father of Truth wants you to know that you are part of the family when you come home again.
The father threw a party with everyone in his house because he was so happy to have his son back (Luke 15:23-24)! His younger son was as good as dead to him when his younger son had left his house to escape his rules. Now that his younger had came home to live under his rules it was like he had came back to life! He had lost a son when his younger son refuse to remain in his house because he did not want to be like his father. Now that son was found to never be lost again when his younger son came home to learn to be like his father. The Father of Truth will throw a party with everyone in his house if you come home to the House of Truth to live under his rules so you can learn how to be like Him.
Can you go home again?
Yes! Yes! Yes! The Father of Truth has been patiently waiting for you to come back into the House of Truth. The Father of Truth will run to show you affection if you will walk back to Him. The Father of Truth only wants to hear you say that you hurt him by leaving the House of Truth. The Father of Truth will bring you back into the House of Truth as his child. The Father of Truth will be so happy that he wants to throw an extravagant party when you come home again.
Will you come home again?
If so then you must come into the House of Truth. You must decide to be obedient to the Man of Truth so you can be like his Father who you believe raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).
Come into the House of Truth.
When I was growing up I was blessed in having two places that were home to me. One was the farm where my mother's family lived and the other was the house in town where my grandma Remington lived. Although my bedroom was in the house on the farm, I spent almost as much time staying at my grandma Remington's house as I did the farm.
On the farm I had plenty of opportunity to spend time doing outdoors stuff like hiking, shooting guns, fishing, blowing stuff up for the fun of it, camping, sledding, catching snakes, playing in the barn and working on the farm. I could spend time being alone in the woods or do things with just my immediate family on the farm because we were pretty isolated from other people my age. I could be almost as loud as wanted since my nearest neighbor was more than a quarter mile (half a kilometer) away. When I was studying math or science, I sometimes had the music turned up so loud that the entire house shook! It was awesome! The farm was where I could work in whatever manner suited me without being disturbed and the farm was my refuge when I needed one.
At my Grandma Remington's I had opportunities do all fun kinds of things with my aunts, uncles and cousins like play games. We would also have all kinds of interesting discussions about anything and everything. Occasionally a fight would break out, which was considered a sport by the Remingtons, that would continue until everyone got tired of fighting or one of the uncles decided that things were getting out of hand and put an end to it. Also my Grandma Remington's was one of those places where everyone in town felt comfortable being at. When my extended family was not there, there was always a bunch of people about my age hanging out there. We were always engaged in doing something like playing cards or having a bottle rocket war or planning a camp out. Lastly Grandma Remington's gave me a place to stay after school which allowed me to participate in all kinds of extracurricular activities that I otherwise could not have participated in. Grandma Remington's was where I went to be myself and just have fun.
I had the best of both worlds.
However, when I got older my Grandma Remington's house burned down and then she died a few years later. My grandfather died, my uncle lost the farm and then my other grandma died. There simply is no home for me to go back to. As the saying goes, you can't go home again.
Or can you?
You see there is another home that some have lived in at one time in their lives but have left when they got older and that is the House of Truth. Perhaps you are one of those that left the House of Truth and you are wondering if you can go home again.
The Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) told a story that answers the question: "Can you go home again?"
The first thing to notice is that the younger son was living in the house with his father at the beginning of the story (Luke 15:11) Were you living in the House of Truth with the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) at the beginning of your story?
Notice next that the younger son was more interested in what his father could give him than he was in being with his father so he could become like him (Luke 15:12). Perhaps you were more interested in what you could get from the Father of Truth than spending time with the Father of Truth so you could become like Him.
Now notice that the father allowed the younger son to leave his house when he insisted on going (Luke 15:12). The father may have pleaded with the younger son to stay in his house and live under his rules before this point but he did not force the younger son to do so. The Father of Truth gave you a free will and He will never force you to stay in the House of Truth.
The next thing to notice in the story is that the younger son had to go far from his home to carry out his desires that were contrary to the will of his father (Luke 15:13). If the younger son could have carried out his desires at home then he probably would have. This would have allowed him to live the party lifestyle that he wanted to live longer since he would would not have had to spend some of his inheritance on renting some place to live. He might have then tried to convince his father to give him more money when he ran out. It would have been very advantageous in carrying out the plans of the younger son if his father would have allowed him to remain at home without obeying the rules of his father. If you left the House of Truth then it was because you realized that you could not live there while being disobedient to the Father of Truth.
We can image some of the things that the younger son might have said to his father before he finally left home. The younger son may have told his father that he had wished he was dead so he did not have to live under his rules. The younger son may have told his father that he must have hated him for imposing his rules on him in the first place. The younger son may have threatened to leave his house unless the father removed his rules. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: The father would not change his rules in order to keep the younger son in his house. In like manner, the Father of Truth is holy, holy, holy and He will never change His laws to keep you in His house.
When the younger son was far from his father he was finally free from what he thought were the tyrannical rules of his father. He now lived with people that did not know his father and had no interest in the rules of his father. These people got him. These people were into the things that he was into. These people were all too glad to help him in his quest to do everything that his father had taught him not to do. These people were all too glad to help him to stay away from doing the things that his father taught him to do. The younger son had people that would help him in quest to party, party, party (Luke 15:13).
These people would not confront him for getting drunk because they were doing that too. These people would not confront him for having sex outside of marriage because they were doing that too. These people would not confront him for whatever drugs he took because they were doing that too. These people would not preach to him about using what his father gave him responsibly because they did not use what they had responsibly. These people would tell him that he was really a good person because after all he was just like them. These people would never make the younger son feel convicted or judged because after all he was just like them. The younger son had finally found what he thought was love and acceptance. Did you feel like you were more accepted by those that did not know the Father of Truth than those who did because they never confront you about your riotous living?
That is he found people that made him feel loved and accepted until his money ran out. The younger son had wasted everything that his father had given him and was helpless when trouble came (Luke 15:14). He probably asked his so-called friends for help but they had suddenly lost all interest in him. They would have had to stop their partying to really help the younger son. It might have required them to make real sacrifices to help the younger son get back on his feet. They had no interest in anyone accept themselves because after all they were just like him. Have you found that those that made you feel love and acceptance for rebelling against the Father of Truth were suddenly gone when your money ran out?
Things got so bad that he had to take a job feeding pigs, the worst imaginable job for a Jewish boy to have, under slave like condition for wages so low that he was so hungry that he wanted to eat the carob pods (husks) that he was feeding the pigs even though people cannot digest carob pods. Even then no one was willing to help him (Luke 15:15-16). Have you found yourself living in the pig pen after trouble came?
At long last the younger son came to his senses. (The Book of Truth, Luke 15:17) He realized that his father was kind and good while those that did not know his father were selfish and evil. His father took care of his servants while his so-called friends only took cared of themselves. The love and acceptance that they offered the younger son had been conditional upon what he could do for them. Have you come to your senses?
The younger son finally told himself the truth: Everything that had happened to him was all his own fault (Luke 15:18). He had insisted on leaving his father because he had not wanted to abide in the house of his father where he would have to obey the rules of his father. He had gotten far away from his father so he could live under his own rules. He had surrounded himself with people that were just like him so he could feel good about his rebellion. His father had provided for him but he had wasted everything by refusing to obey the rules of his father. He was starving in the pigpen because he had not wanted to be like his father. Have you told yourself the truth?
Now the younger son realized that he was not worthy to be called the son of his father because he had not been obedient to his father (Luke 15:19). The younger son was now ready be a servant in the house of his father because he was willing to live under the rules of his father. The younger son could see that his father had imposed his rules upon everyone in his house because his father was wise, good and kind. The rules of his father kept people from coming to ruin. Are you now ready to be obedient to the Father of Truth so that you can live in the House of Truth?
Can you go home again?
As the younger son was walking home, his father saw him from a great distance (Luke 15:20). The father had been looking every day for his son to come home again. The father had not chased after the younger son when he left because he would not force his son to live in his house against his will. The father had not went to the far country to shut down his partying and drag his son back home because he would not force his son to live in his house against his will. The father had not rescued his son from living in the pigpen because he would not force his son to live in his house against his will. The father did not even leave to get his son when his son decided to come home because his son was the one that had to come home again. Instead, the father waited patiently for the son to come home again. The Father of Truth is waiting patiently for you to come home again.
When the father saw the younger son walking towards him he went running towards his son to shower him with affection (Luke 15:20). If you will walk back towards the Father of Truth, He will run to shower you with affection! The Father of Truth wants you to come home again more than you want to come home again.
The younger son admitted to his father that everything was his own fault because he had not imitated his father like a son by living under the rules of his father in the house of his father (Luke 15:21). The younger son knew that if he wanted to come home again then he had to let his father know that he was sorry for hurting his father by leaving his house. If you want to come home again, then you need to tell the Father of Truth that you are sorry for hurting Him by leaving the House of Truth.
How did the father respond?
The father brought him back into his house as a son (Luke 15:22)! He put the best robe on the younger son to replace his filth with beauty. He put a ring on his finger to show that he was his son and not his servant. He put shoes on his feet to separate him from the earth. The father didn't even let the younger son make his offer to be a servant in his house for he would have none of it. The father wanted the younger son to know that he was part of the family when he came home again. The Father of Truth wants you to know that you are part of the family when you come home again.
The father threw a party with everyone in his house because he was so happy to have his son back (Luke 15:23-24)! His younger son was as good as dead to him when his younger son had left his house to escape his rules. Now that his younger had came home to live under his rules it was like he had came back to life! He had lost a son when his younger son refuse to remain in his house because he did not want to be like his father. Now that son was found to never be lost again when his younger son came home to learn to be like his father. The Father of Truth will throw a party with everyone in his house if you come home to the House of Truth to live under his rules so you can learn how to be like Him.
Can you go home again?
Yes! Yes! Yes! The Father of Truth has been patiently waiting for you to come back into the House of Truth. The Father of Truth will run to show you affection if you will walk back to Him. The Father of Truth only wants to hear you say that you hurt him by leaving the House of Truth. The Father of Truth will bring you back into the House of Truth as his child. The Father of Truth will be so happy that he wants to throw an extravagant party when you come home again.
Will you come home again?
If so then you must come into the House of Truth. You must decide to be obedient to the Man of Truth so you can be like his Father who you believe raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).
Come into the House of Truth.
Labels: Forgiveness, Love, Ozarks, Reconciliation, Repentance
posted by The House Of Truth @ August 11, 2012
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