12/28/2025
Are we like children before God, or are we walking in your own independent self-righteousness? Do we say, “I believe” and yet act like we are in control of our own lives? Maybe we have trusted God with our life at some point, but have since taken those reins back from Him, and slowly, over time, found ourselves walking totally apart from Him. Do we know where we are? Are we uncertain how, and if, we can come home again? Well, through Christ we can.
“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:2-4 ESV
I was a child in my parent’s home. At 18 years old I had taken on much responsibility, but I was still a child when I walked through their front door. My mother washed my clothes and prepared my meals, and my father put the roof over my head, and provided for my basic needs. I was their child, and yet I was at a point in my life where I wanted desperately to control my own destiny... I wanted to be independent, my own man. Then I left for college.
I attended the Virginia Military Institute which was a Spartan environment that took every boyish trait in me and systematically reworked it. In a short four years I became self-sufficient and self-reliant, but despite this restructuring I did come home on occasion, and as those visits approached I longed to be back in my parents’ house under their love and care. The moment I walked back through their door I allowed my mother to cook for me and make up my bed; I let my father give me a ten-dollar bill and say, “put gas in the car while you are out.” This is a relationship my parents understood well, and that I longed to live again.
When we find ourselves straying away from God we feel like we can handle our own affairs, and the world teaches us its ways. Yet, deep inside we long to be back in His house and presence, and we know with a sense of certainty that this is where we belong. Growing up and becoming independent from our biological parents is natural and follows a model set throughout nature. Becoming independent from God is not like that... as we ween ourselves from our earthly parents we learn to stand on our own two feet, but it is the nature of faith, and our true relationship with God, that we forever be children before Him.
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
2 Corinthians 3:5-6
One thing is very similar in the two relationships I have just described. When I left my parents’ home I was always welcomed back, and when I came home the love and relationship of my youth returned... even if just in part... My mother embraced me, and my father began to provide guidance and sustenance for me once again. But, there are some differences when I stray away from my relationship with God and then return, yes, He also welcomes me with open arms. The moment I look to Him and call out “Father”, He embraces me, and I know I am home. The difference is that it is unnatural for a man to remain a child in his earthly father’s home forever, and must stand on his own two feet, but it is very natural that he always be a child in his Heavenly Father’s house and remain that way throughout eternity.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
1 John 3:1 ESV
I think about the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. The apostles were lost, and some just wanted to go back home. They were ready to leave the spiritual relationship that they had nurtured with Jesus and return to their own independent lives. As a matter of fact, two left almost immediately and began walking back to Emmaus. They were distraught and were returning to their old self-sufficient lives. They were traveling the road home to their earthly families, and the life they understood would be waiting for them there.
When we go through tough times in our lives of faith we are tempted to strap on our sandals and hit the road to Emmaus just as they did. We are ready to return to a place of comfort that we know awaits us... we want to head home to our earthly families and places we are certain of. Are any of us walking towards Emmaus right now? Is there dust on your feet, and a feeling of being uncertain or lost in your heart? Well open your eyes and ears... look around you, because you are not traveling alone; there is someone on the road with you asking a question... “what is this conversation?”, and it will stop you in your tracks.
“And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad.”
Luke 24:17 ESV
Jesus knew that the two men on this road were feeling a sense of spiritual abandonment and were heart broken. He knew their feeling of loss and uncertainty, and yet He came for them, and He comes for us too. He gently chided them and will do the same to us. Can you hear His voice?
“And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"”
Luke 24:25-26 ESV
As Jesus speaks, He reminds us that what we are going through is necessary, and natural. God’s will is, more times than not, a mystery to us, and it can prove to be a challenge to our faith, but He never abandons us, and if we remain true to Him, we will soon feel the familiar handle of his front door in our hand once again. We will realize that we are home and that He is waiting there with open arms; welcoming us like the children we are. So, let’s look about ourselves as we travel our own road to Emmaus, and let Jesus speak to us, dine with us, pray with us, and then Let’s return to Jerusalem where He will be waiting to lead us on towards the joy and peace of our Father’s house.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the childhood I forever experience in your house. Thank you for allowing me to lean on your strong shoulder when I am suffering and lost, and I thank you for the sustenance you provide for my spirit as I dine as if famished, at your table. I understand that in the world I must grow and learn to be a man, but I also understand that in my faith and spirituality you are my Heavenly Father always, and that before you I am eternally a child... dependent on you for all things. Call to me when I wander Lord and send Jesus to retrieve me when I have strayed. When I find myself living alone in a spiritual cave, let me hear in my heart and soul your small still voice that asks what I am doing there, and then instructs me on the way home. Speak your will to me Holy Father and lift me to my feet as I go about obeying your desire and will. I praise you Father for your unwavering love and faithfulness, and I sing in joy about the home that awaits me in your kingdom. You are my strength, my provision, my love, and joy forever! In your house I am forever your child and remain humble before you. I worship you Father for who you are and for never abandoning me on the sad roads I often find myself traveling. I worship and praise you for coming, in mercy and grace, to make your love new to me each morning, and for being with me always.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen!
Rich Forbes