It had been years of hard struggle, serving in an army camp, but it was over now. The high chain-link fence had been their boundary, and hard labor had filled their days. Mail came through the gates, but not freedom.
And then suddenly one dark evening, the captain announced, “The war is over! You men can go home tomorrow!”
I wonder if you can imagine the relief that swept right down the narrow isles and up into every bunk. Perhaps you have never been kept behind a fence like that, but there are all kinds of chains and bars that keep you where you are. For some of us, it’s a bad habit that we can’t break, or it’s loneliness or peer pressure or pride. No matter what it is, for each of us it’s the chains of sin, tightly holding us and keeping us away from the loving arms of the Saviour who died for sinners. The biggest barrier of all is our own stubborn will.
Albert heard this wonderful news as the others did. He had a beat-up old car parked somewhere outside the camp. He hoped it still had gas and a good battery, and he had the key. And stored up in his head was the memory of a loving family and an empty place at that long table waiting for him. It doesn’t take long for us to imagine how anxious he was to go home.
God does not imagine things, because He knows all things. He even showed the Apostle John wonderful visions of things which have not happened yet but which definitely will happen, because God has said so, and He knows. That is the God who wants you to believe His good news right now. Don’t let your stubborn will keep you chained up any longer!
Albert’s thoughts raced. “Tomorrow? Why not right now?” he asked. “Okay, if you want to” was the answer. His few belongings were jammed into his bag and, without a moment’s regret, he left the crowded bunkhouse and the happy men making their plans for tomorrow. He switched on the headlights and rattled his old beater down the road and headed home.
It must have been 3 a.m. when he turned off the headlights at his home, and the sound of the doorbell rang through the darkened house. They would all be sound asleep - would anyone hear?
Let me tell you, it’s wonderful to have a God who never sleeps, who never fails to hear, who never changes His loving desire to have sinners like you and me saved and in His home forever. Albert knew there was a welcome for him, if only he could make them hear. And do you know that if you will come to the Saviour of sinners, you will find a welcome and a place in His heart and in His home that could never be occupied by anyone but you?
The loud rrrring again echoed through the silent household, and finally his little sister heard. She jumped out of bed but did not open the door until she peeked cautiously through the window. And then . . . WELCOME HOME!
Yes, you will be welcome if you come to the Father through the Lord Jesus. He knows all about you. Every thought in your mind is perfectly clear to Him. Jesus died to cleanse away your sins and to set you free. Jesus is the way to the Father’s heart and the loving welcome of the Father’s home forever.
ML-08/10/2003