It's Time To Take Action

It's significant that Jesus was the one who told this story.  It's significant because Jesus was not just any other man.  Jesus is God.  Jesus is God's Son.  Jesus is the Christ (a.k.a. Messiah) who paved the way for all of us to come home.  Jesus can be sure that the Father will respond the way he described in the story because Jesus prepared that way.  We simply need to come home to the Father through the way prepared by the Son. The Father will forgive us when we do.

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39 NIV)

Don't misunderstand, now.  The Father wants us home, but He does not force us to come home.  As long as we stay in the far-off country, we are not home.  Our Father has not received us back into His home.  We don't have the benefits and blessings that come from being home.  We need to wake up, be honest about where we are, turn around, and go home.  Then we will be safe again in our Father's home.

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10 NIV)

How about you?  Have you gone home?  Do you believe the Son prepared a way to return to the Father so that you will be forgiven and welcomed home?  Did you wake up?  Have you been brutally honest with yourself?  Have you turned around and been baptized?  Are you letting the Son lead you (as Lord)?  Is it time to take action?

Who's Waiting For You

Have you ever watched a scary movie?  Maybe it was a show with a scary scene?  I can always tell when the show writers want me to be frightened.  They music alone gives it away.  It always communicates tension and potential danger.  Maybe the pictures show darkness, shadows, or a short glimpse of a person or other danger lurking in those shadows.  The communication is always clear: you should be afraid.

Going home to the Father can give us the same picture.  Will Father be there?  How will He react?  What is He going to say?  Will he slam the door in my face?  Will He even listen to what I have rehearsed over and over again in my mind?  Will He believe me?  What if He does listen and believe me but still tells me to go away?  I really have no bargaining chips here.  I have no leg to stand on.  Is it really worth trying to go home?  These questions and many more all build up the tension, the fear, and the glimpses of danger lurking in the shadows.

"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.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." (Luke 15:20-24 NIV)

Jesus is the one telling this story.  It is a parable: a story with a spiritual meaning.  The father in the story is clearly meant to represent God.  The son represents any one of us who have left the Father and His Home through our rebellion (a.k.a. sin).  Don't lose the significance of this part of the story.  Jesus is telling us how the Father will react if we will simply come home.  Repentance simply means turning around.  We hear the alarm and wake up.  We are finally honest about our circumstances and how we got there.  We get up and go home.  When we get there, we can be sure who is waiting for us.  It's the Father, and He is not a frightening figure lurking in the shadows.  He is a loving Father running down the driveway to meet us, hug us, and celebrate with us.  God celebrates when we come home.

So how about you?  Do you see God as a frightening figure who lurks in the shadows?  Do you figure He will slam the door in your face?  Do you expect He will hear you out, but still send you away?  Or do you trust that He will welcome you home as a loving Father would?  Do you know who is waiting for you?

Where You Are Going

Immediate action does not help unless you know where you are going. I'm not saying you need to know exactly where you are going with specific longitude and latitude. But you really do need to know the general direction. "This way is north," may be all you have to go on. But knowing that home is back North, you can make some real progress.

I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.'" (Luke 15:18-219 NIV)

The prodigal son had a plan. He knew before he got up what he was planning to do. He would "set out and go back to his father." That means he knew where he intended to go. He told himself that he would "say to him," which means he knew what he wanted to say. He had a general direction. He knew where he was going. Things didn't work out exactly as he planned, but that doesn't matter. The direction he chose was the direction of repentance. That is what mattered. That direction caused him to turn his life around, get up, and go home.

How about you? Do you have places that you need to turn around, get up, and go home to the Father? Do you know what that would look like? Can you picture the general direction? Do you know where you are going?

Where You Are

AHA experiences need all three components.  We need a sudden awakening where we come to our senses.  This is like hearing the alarm and waking up.  Next, we need to be brutally honest about our circumstances.  This is like looking around and recognizing the reality of our situation and what we did to get there.  Finally, we need to take immediate action.  This is what the younger son did in the story of the prodigal son.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.' So he got up and went to his father..." (Luke 15:17-20 NIV)

The son had all three components - a sudden awakening, brutal honesty, and then he "got up."  Getting up makes all the difference in the world.  "Getting up" makes the difference between being fired and a satisfying career.  "Getting up" makes the difference between a broken relationship and reconciliation.  "Getting up" is the difference between permanent addiction and breaking free.

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:25-26 NIV)

When we get up, we need to know where we are - our starting point.  This is what brutal honesty gives us: our starting point.  The great thing about AHA is that our past does not define our future.  Our current situation does not prevent us from taking a step.  Where you are is only the starting point for where you are going to be.  With God, all things are possible.

How about you?  Are you ready to get up? Do you see where you are as temporary?  Are you ready to make your current circumstances only a starting point for where you will be going? Are you ready to take action?

Immediate Action

The last place Traci and I live in Cincinnati was a farm house on the top of a hill.  The street in front of the house was kind of busy and followed the hill up and down.  Developers had created a subdivision across the street from the house and the only entrance to that subdivision was directly across the street from the house.  The subdivision was large enough that cars would be going in and out of there all day long.

When someone wanted to get into the subdivision coming from the one direction, they would need to turn left into the street.  In order to do this, they would come up the hill and then slightly down the hill and, if traffic was approaching, they would need to sit and wait in what Traci and I would call the sitting-duck position.  Cars coming up behind them often would not see them in time, come up over the hill, slam on their breaks, and run into the car.  Traci and I helped many people over the years at that intersection.

This is important to know because when we first moved into the house, we let the kids play out in the side yard.  It was plenty far away from the street and they were small enough that they liked to stay on the concrete parking pad next to the house...or so we thought.  

The neighbor called from across the street.  I answered and the neighbor said, "Joshua is heading right for the street."  Joshua was little more than a toddler at the time.  I said, "Thank you," dropped the phone, and ran outside.  Joshua was just a couple feet from the edge of the street and there was no way I would get to him in time.  So, with everything I had inside I yelled, "Joshua, NO!!!"  He froze in his tracks.  I ran to him, scooped him up into my arms and the floodgates let loose.  He began crying and screaming.  He had never been yelled at like that.  I started rocking him back and forth, patting his back lightly, and telling him, "It's ok.  I've got you.  I love you.  No street."  I repeated that over and over as I held him and tried to help him calm down.

Sometimes in life, you can't ease into things.  The situation requires immediate action.  AHA situations require action, too.  It's one thing to "hear the alarm" and have a sudden Awakening from you spiritual slumber.  It really is important that you hear the alarm and not keep hitting the snooze button.  It is also important to get your bearings and be brutally Honest about your current situation.  None of that will help, though, if you don't get up and get going.  You need to take immediate Action to get out of your current situation and go home to the Father.

So how about you?  Do you recognize that immediate action is necessary sometimes?  Is immediate action appropriate for you?  Is it time for you to have an AHA experience?