What to Do When You are Far from God: Part 3 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning.

Starting your day right is one of the most important things in life, and we do that every weekday morning by opening the Bible and seeing what God has to say to us. The fact is, the Bible is not full of just remote theological ideas. It is so practical for your everyday life, and that’s what we find every weekday morning at this time as we open the Bible.

This week, we’re looking at what to do and you find that you are far from God, far from Him relationally, far from Him spiritually. You know you’re leaving God out of your life, and the reality is, we need God. We were made for God, and our lives don’t work right without Him.

We are looking at a story Jesus told about a young man who went far from his father and ruined his life and ended up coming back to his father and being reconciled, and Jesus told that story, reflecting that people walk far from God and God is always ready to reconcile us and make our lives right again.

And we’re looking at the steps that we need to take to get right with God.

Step number one, we said, is you have to recognise that you need God, and that certainly happened in this young man’s life. He recognised how his life was just going to ruin and how good it was even for the servants of his father, let alone him as a son who was far away and ruining his life. He knew he needed God.

The second step is to come to God on his terms, not to come proudly and saying, OK, God, well, I’ll put some religion in my life for you, as if we’re doing God a favour, but rather recognising He’s God, we’re creation, and we need to get right with Him on his terms. The Bible calls that repentance. It means recognising my life’s been going in the wrong direction, leaving God out, and making a decision, I’m going to submit my life to God and invite Him to be the leader of my life. I’m coming to Him on His terms. I’m coming to Him in humility. I’m recognising my life is broken without Him.

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Step 3 then in getting right with God is to accept God’s love for you. Accept God’s love for you.

This young man decided to come back to his father on the father’s terms. It says in verse 20 of Luke 15 in the Bible, and he arose and came to his father but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

And the son said to him, Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and before you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. He launches into his prepared speech of repentance and humility. The father doesn’t even keep listening. He doesn’t let him finish. The father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.

Well, the son knew it would be better when he came back to his father willing to even just be a servant, but that’s not what his father wanted for him. His father loved him, and that son needed to accept his father’s love. And maybe you have this picture of God that if you’re going to come to God and you need God’s help and you want to be right with Him, that it means just sitting under God’s thumb. That God just wants to be a controlling factor in your life, shaping, full of rules. And you are totally missing the nature of the heart of God.

While you’re still a long way off, that boy was far away. The father couldn’t have recognised his face. He must have just recognised his walk.

And he realised who it was that was coming home, and that father took off running. A dignified landowner in that day, it was super countercultural for him to run. He had to stay dignified. He didn’t care. He took off running. He had to let his son know how much he loved him.

The son started out on his speech, and the father just jumped in and called his servants, Get the things that show my son is fully restored. He’s come home, and I’m ready to receive him. I want to tell you that is the heart of God towards you when you decide you’re going to make things right with God.

His love is overflowing for you. He can’t wait for you to make things right with him. Never hold back from God, thinking, Oh, God doesn’t want to see me because of how far away from Him I have been. No, God is always ready to hug you, to kiss you, to pour his tears down your back, tears of joy that you’ve come home.

I’m John North.