An Open Invitation
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. Luke 15:20
A few months ago, my daughter and I drifted from conversation into dispute. After a few barbs, she said, “You think you are a good person, but you’re not.” I could have dismissed it as frustration and teenage muscle memory. Instead, it made me think. Later I wrote to her:
I’m not perfect and I know that. I do not always do the right things, but I forever am trying to. So, do I believe I am a good person? Only God truly knows. But I always try to do better. That is life.
Also, as your father, I will always want a relationship with you even if you should not. You’re my child who I love. Nothing will ever change that no matter what you say or do. That is constant and if you should ever want to talk about what that might look like, I’m here. No ultimatum. Just an always open invitation.
I didn’t think much of it until we talked again about her growing up recently. Then those words struck me differently. My note to my daughter was imperfect, like me. But it reminded me that the Father’s heart is perfect, and His invitation stands even when ours wavers. They were not just a dad’s resolve. They were a faint echo of God’s heart toward us.
We spend a lot of time thinking about our relationship with God whether it is our prayer life, our obedience, and our spiritual disciplines. But the wonder of the gospel is that before we could ever reach for Him, He reached for us. Before we could take a step home, He was watching the road.
We all have wondered whether our missteps have somehow exhausted God’s patience. Yet, Jesus answers with a story about a Father who runs. Not a guarded welcome. Not a list of conditions. A run, an embrace, a kiss. That is the picture Jesus wants in our minds.
There is a reason Jesus is called the perfecter of our faith. We stumble and say things we regret. Other times we choose distance over trust. Yet, scripture keeps reminding us of God’s intense efforts to bring us back like the good shepherd seeks their lost sheep. In a letter to John, Paul wrote, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1, NLT). Children do not earn a place at the table. They are given one. And when we fear rejection, Jesus intermediates for us saying, “However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.” (John 6:37, NLT)
The gift of grace flows from this. As such, while we grow in holiness and confess and repent, none of that purchases God’s favor. This goes back as far as from the days of Jeremiah where God says, “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” (Jeremiah 31:3) His love is the engine, and our obedience is the echo.
God’s invitation is limitless. It cannot be closed. Paul was passionately driven by this saying, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of god that is in Christ Jesus or Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39 NIV). When shame tells us to hide, the cross tells us to come home.
So let us learn to live through identity in grace seeing through Jesus’ lens, practicing small, faithful steps and staying rooted in community. Choose one “long road home” place in your life (a relationship, a habit, or a fear). Picture the Father watching the road. Pray honestly about what keeps you distant and then take one concrete step toward Him (a call you’ve avoided, a confession you’ve delayed, a practice you’ve postponed). Trust that He meets you running.
In what area do you most fear rejection from God, and how does Jesus’ picture of the running Father reshape that fear today? Who needs to experience a “no ultimatum, always open” invitation from you this week, and what is one step you will take to offer it? My prayer is that we would see the Father watching the road for us, run toward His love without fear, and become people whose open invitations reflect His heart. Amen.