Going Home

Ruth 1:6 – 7 “When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.”

I am so impressed with Naomi. Here she was, a widow in a foreign land, with a couple of widowed daughters-in-law. In a country where Jews were despised, during a time when women had few rights, and there were no cars or airplanes, no telephones, no high-dollar comfort-sole shoes, she decided to go home. Walk home. Miles and miles and miles.

She had heard there was food back home. She knew there was family, and love, and support back home. She could have stayed where she was, and lived out her remaining days in regret, but she didn’t. She found herself in a lousy situation, and she decided to do something about it.

Now, this journey was a dangerous one even for men. But three women? Traveling alone? Naomi had some pluck. Just as many animals in nature will journey their entire lives only to return home before they die, the true child of God will always, eventually, want to go home. Naomi had lived away from God, and away from His promises long enough. She knew that life was better within her Father’s borders. So she started walking.

Oh, that every lost child of the King could know it is just that simple! When we journey far from God, we can just turn around and start walking home! The journey may be a long one. It may be tiresome and uncomfortable. But we can know beyond any shred of doubt that we will be welcomed. Wanted. Celebrated. We can know with certainty that our Father has waited by the window for us. We can even know that He will meet us on the road and travel the journey with us.

It all begins with that first step. It is the most difficult one, for it is taken not with our feet, but with our hearts. We must make the decision to go home. Once that decision is made, we can know that each small step we take will be met by two giant steps of our Father, who will run to meet us, to wrap His arms around us, and to welcome us home.

Dear Father, Thank You for wanting me to come home.

Amen