When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran. — Luke 15:20
It seems strange to us that any son should be so foolish as to leave a good home of love and happiness for a far country, with its disappointment, debasement, and degradation. But it is always the story of human sin. The part of the teaching which concerns us most is the return of the lost boy, and the way he was received by his father when he came back. A vision of the old home came to him in his want and wretchedness, and that drew him back. He came to himself and saw his folly. He was then brave enough to confess it and come home.
The boy’s reception is a picture of the way God receives those who come back from sin’s wanderings. The father was watching, and saw his returning boy far off. He ran to meet him. God is ever watching for the first thought and act of penitence, and hastens to meet the returning one. We may be glad that this parable is in the Gospel, for no one need ever be afraid now to come back to God.