He also said: “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father told his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate. “Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he summoned one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ “ ‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ” Luke 15:11-32 (HCSB)
In the fall of 1972, I met a wonderful and beautiful woman. I set in place a series of events to become my wife. In June of 1973, that became a reality.
When I started out in 1972, I said to myself that, “I love this woman and I want to marry her. I want to get to know her better. I want to be with her the rest of my life. I want to grow old with her.” I never once said, “I believe the best way to handle this is for me to have a long distant relationship with her!”
When you are in love you want to spend every moment with that person. You want to know everything about them. You cannot stop thinking and dreaming about them. There is no way that you can truly know a person with a long distant relationship. It just doesn’t work!
I never dreamed that when I said, “I Do” over 37-plus years ago that there were going to be times that we would be separated for many days or even weeks during our marriage. I would have told you that was not a possibility. However, as I soon found out, life is full of surprises and changes. When Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” she failed to tell the whole truth. It does make it grow fonder but it also causes envy, sorrow, jealousy, longing, and stress!
There are times when we cannot control when we are away from our loved ones such as sickness, jobs, family duties, or unforeseen emergencies. My heart goes out to our many men and women who protect our country in many different ways who are away from their loved ones. They, too, have no control over their absence. But, some people down-right chooses to be away! Truthfully, I do not see how or why they do it.
Many Christians make this choice every day. Many Christians make a choice to step away from the one who loves them the most, Jesus. They decide to walk the path of life alone and have along distant relationship with Him.
You know something? It does not work! They become miserable. They enjoy it at first but when they wake up one morning with the “pigs” they realize they need to return home where there is True Love waiting for them. They soon realize they are full of envy, sorrow, jealousy, longing, and stress.
It is easy to point the finger at someone and say they need to return to Jesus, however, just like the prodigal son, we have all been to a “far country” and at some stage in our life we have all found ourselves face-down in the “pig stall”.
Thanksgiving and Christmas would be a great time if you would take a moment and see where you stand with God. Where is your walk with Jesus? Have you strayed? You know He is waiting for you to come back home. Make this a wonderful year by ending it in the right hands. Put your life in the hands of the one who truly loves you, Jesus.
