Coming Home

See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labour; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son. (Jeremiah 31:8-9 NIV)

We are loved with an everlasting love and last week we saw how that love restores and brings fruitfulness. Today we see how this extravagant love brings us home. 

The love of the Father goes to the ends of the earth in order to seek us out, gather us and bring us back to the loving embrace of the Father. There is nowhere we can hide. The Father wants a family and he does everything to bring us into that family, in order that we can know we are his sons and daughters. Home is very important; it is the place of belonging, identity and security. It is the place where we can be ourselves, letting go of any pretence and just being. 

Everyone is welcome. There are no exclusions - all may come. The poor and needy are especially welcome and if we're honest, that's all of us. To pretend otherwise is simply us hiding behind our veneer of pride and self-sufficiency. 

Home is beside streams of living water which always speak to us of life. When we come home into the embrace of the Father we find life and, as Jesus said, it's life in all its fullness.