"So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'"
— Lucas 15:20-21
How many times have you felt so far from God that you imagined it was impossible to return? Perhaps you've made mistakes that seem unforgivable, choices that pulled you away from the path, relationships you damaged with your own hands. This Friday, we need to talk about something modern culture doesn't want you to hear: returning is always possible when there is genuine repentance.
The parable of the prodigal son is one of Jesus' most powerful stories about forgiveness and restoration. A young man asks his father for his inheritance early—an affront to his father—and wastes it on a life of excess and emptiness. But the crucial detail isn't in the boy's fall; it's in what the father does when he sees him returning. The text says the father "ran" to embrace him. An elderly man, in a culture where dignity was everything, didn't wait for his son to reach him. He didn't offer a cold, calculated second chance. He offered visceral, emotional, complete restoration.
What this story teaches us is that God isn't waiting for you to be worthy again before receiving you. You never will be. None of us will. Worthiness is not the prerequisite for divine forgiveness; repentance is. When you confess your failure and turn toward home—toward the Father's arms—you find not condemnation, but compassion. That embrace the father gives is grace in action. It's everything you didn't deserve, offered freely because you are loved.
But there's a crucial practical application here: you also need to learn to run and embrace those who return. If someone in your circle—a friend, a spouse, a family member—is trying to rebuild after a mistake, your task isn't to keep score or eternally remind them of the failure. It's to run to meet them on their way back. Just as the father didn't wait for explanations before embracing, you can choose to receive the person before they finish their apologies. This doesn't mean there are no consequences or work to be done. It means that restoration begins with the decision to embrace, not with punishment.
Today, you may be on one of two sides of this parable. If you're the one who needs to return, know that it's not too late. Your Father is looking out the window, waiting for you to move in His direction. If you're the one who needs to embrace someone coming back, ask for strength to set aside your hurt and do as the father did. Grace isn't weak—it's the strongest thing in the universe.