What If Our Prodigal Doesn’t Return?

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my faither and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ So he returned home to his father.” (Luke 15:17-20a NLT)

The context of the story of the prodigal son makes clear the son was “lost” when he left home but was repentant and desiring to be “found” when he came home. Those about whom I asked the question in yesterday’s post are those who are clearly walking with God but have a change of heart and mind and willingly choose to walk away from Him.

If they never “come home” to God, will they be lost for all eternity? And, secondly, if they come back to the Lord will they find forgiveness and restoration? Again, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, as I understand it, it’s a matter of free will. Can we exercise our will to walk into a relationship with God, but not a will to walk away again?

Everything in Scripture shouts to me that God is love and holds us with open arms. His arms invite us to come to Him and they remain open to release us if we choose to leave. But as I think about the “prodigals” in my own family, and yours, who once opened their heart to the Lord, were baptized and walked faithfully with Him, then turned away and have no room in their heart for Him now, what’s their fate? Can they repent and return or is there no longer any hope for them? Will the Lord “force” them to come to heaven against their will? Or will He sadly allow them to go to hell as they follow their will?

As the Bible describes it, salvation is a free gift we receive by faith, or we can choose to reject. When we “receive” it, as with any other gift, it’s ours to do with as we wish. We can embrace it with our whole heart and life, as I and many of you have, or we can sit it on the proverbial “shelf” of our life and grab it when we think we need it. It either becomes the all-encompassing joy of our life or it can become a novelty that passes over time.

As believers we like to think of our salvation as something that can or cannot be “lost,” (i.e. can someone lose their salvation?), but as I understand it, it’s more like a marriage. I didn’t “lose” my marriage, it was ripped away like a limb from my body. Relationships aren’t “lost,” they’re ignored or nurtured, treasured or forgotten.

We don’t “lose” our relationship with God; we simply prioritize our life to include or exclude Him. As with any relationship we enjoy and value Him or we crowd Him out with other, more important people or things. Can a person be “saved” and walk away from God? Honestly, I can’t imagine why or how, but the truth is, yes, they can.

When that happens, when they die, will they still go to heaven? That’s ultimately a question that only God can answer, but I do know this, if someone who once walked with God, turns away, then returns, repents, turns from their wickedness and seeks the Lord with a sincere heart, on the authority of God’s Holy Word, I believe they will find forgiveness and restoration with the Lord.

So, what’s the bottom line? Don’t stop praying for your prodigals! Entrust them to the Lord, and, like the father in Luke 15, keep watching for their return, then receive them with open arms.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊