An Invitation

Jeremiah 3:12-15 NLT

Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says: “O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the Lord, have spoken! “Return home, you wayward children,” says the Lord, “for I am your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel — one from this town and two from that family— from wherever you are scattered. And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.

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Stephen Lawhead writes novels of historical fantasy fiction that move me. In his series The Celtic Crusades he describes a character named Padraig, who is a Welsh Monk on a journey to the Crusades in Jerusalem. During that journey he explains two powerful related but nearly opposite Welsh words or ideas. 

" taithchwant as the affliction of wanderlust — “that gnawing discontent which drives a man beyond the walls of paradise to see what lies over the next hill, or to discover where the river ends, or to follow the road to its furthest destination.”

It is only equaled by the hiraeth; “the home-yearning — an aching desire for the green hills of your native land…for the sound of a kinsman’s voice…for the food first eaten at your mother’s hearth…and therefore,” he concludes, “We are forever pinched between the two most formidable cravings men can know...”~ pp. 217-220, Iron Lance

In 1757 when the non-conformist Pastor Robert Robinson was only 22 years old he penned these words found in the loved hymn Come Thou Fount,

 Let that grace now like a fetter, 
Bind my wandering heart to Thee. 
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
Prone to leave the God I love; 
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Lawhead, Robinson, and the prophet Jeremiah all possessed an  understanding of our profound propensity to leave home and wander.

The wanderer, more like runaway, more like treacherous traitor is forgiven and welcomed home by God.

God is calling you home!

And you don't have to worry because of all the debt you owe ; everything has been forgiven. Jeremiah writes that God says he is merciful!

Come home, where there is love, forgiveness, and a welcome!

Come home to God your Father!

Come home to where you belong!

Leave the burdens, entanglements, fears and the sin that has weighed you down and come home.

God says you are welcome at home.

Come home.

Has the Lord opened your heart?

Acts 16:11-15 NLT

We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis. From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She was baptized along with other members of her household, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.

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The book of Acts is full of stories of how God changes lives. We can be confident that God is at work in the hearts of people he is preparing to hear the good news about Jesus. Paul was going about his business looking for people who might listen to the gospel. So Paul went where people might be praying.
Lydia wondered about God. She worshiped God but did not know about Jesus. Praying and worshiping were a good start but without Jesus it wasn't enough. God rewarded her seeking with the truth. God sent Paul.

There's a lot to be learned from this story.  Firstly, this is God's work. He opens hearts. Secondly, I think we'll find people ready for the gospel if we look for those already seeking. Third, seeking is good, worshiping God is good, but God intends for people to hear about Jesus. God wants people to accept the good news about Jesus. Third, Lydia not only accepted this good news but she acted on it. Lydia was baptized.  God opened her heart, so she opened her home. She brought the gospel and the messengers into her home and business and those she had influence over also believed.

The whole reproductive nature of the good news is seen here from God sending the messenger, to God opening her heart,  to completely identifying herself in baptism, to Lydia opening her home and seeing others believe too.

Please be encouraged.