I Run to Meet You

“But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”

Luke 15:20

Come here, my son, my daughter. I want to tell you about a father who had a son who took his inheritance, left home, and spent it all on a life that led nowhere. When that son had nothing left, he decided to go back, even ashamed, even thinking he no longer deserved to be called a son.

The father in that story is me. And what did I do when I saw him still far off, walking slowly, full of shame? I ran. I didn't wait for him to drag his feet all the way home and deliver a formal apology. I ran, I embraced him, I kissed his road-dirty face before I even heard a word.

If you're coming back to me today, after time spent far away, you don't need to rehearse the perfect speech. I'm already running to meet you. There is no distance too great for my love for you.