0299. The Longings at Home

The Longings at Home

"And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him" (Luk_15:20).

These words are enough. They mean much. Beneath the surface lie worlds of truth. They suggest that the father had long been watching the road that led toward home, anticipating the coming of his wayward son.

How plaintive are the words: "All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and a gainsaying people."

And God has waited long for the wanderer to return.

Illustration: There is an illustration that has gone the rounds. It is the story of a mother whose daughter had gone into sin. The mother asked her pastor how she might let her girl know her love, and how she might be enabled to get her back again. The pastor asked the mother to bring all the photos of herself that she had, and then he had her write under each picture, the words: "Come home, Come home."

These photos were placed in the mission halls, in the big city whither the girl had gone and where she was lost to her mother’s care. One day the girl, friendless and forlorn strolled into one of those "mission halls." She was discouraged, and ready to die. She felt her mother could not love her now. But when she saw the photo and read the words, "Come home," she wept for joy. She soon was in her mother’s arms, a welcomed and forgiven girl.

"Come home, come home,

There is bread and to spare,

And a warm welcome there,

Oh, prodigal child, come home."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR