Come on back

"They say, 'If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man's, May he return to her again?' Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me," says the LORD.  – Jeremiah 3v1

There are many blessings to serving the God we serve. One of the greatest is to see His desire for His people to return to Him when they fall away or even turn away from Him. That is one thing that gives me great hope when I err, or stumble, or fall, ore wander off track.

Old Testament language can be very descriptive. Here God uses two pictures. The first is of a man who divorces his wife, she gets married, and then he wants to take her back. The second is of a woman who acts like a prostitute with many lovers and then wants to return to her husband.

The questions here verge on the rhetorical. It would be difficult, if not humanly impossible to accept a spouse back after those kinds of adventures. The answer could almost just be a resounding ‘no.’

And yet God says to His people, even though guilty of playing the harlot with Him, ‘Yet, return to Me.’

I love that we have a ‘come on back’ Saviour. This is not just an Old Testament concept. We think of the prodigal son where the father waits with open arms for his erring son to repent and come home.

I am glad that God sees me through my dumb mistakes and stupid choices. May God give me the grace and patience to pray for others while they wander. He invites them to return. So should I.