Many have lost their way ‘home’. Runaways by the hundreds and thousands concern parents and special units of law enforcement. milk cartons, posters, bill boards are seen in stores, bus stations, air ports, and post offices. ‘MISSING’ HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY OR GIRL? Special hot line call numbers are provided for any information. All the while, parents wait, hope and pray that their special child will come home.
   Luke 15:11-32 contains the story of a father who’s younger son left home. The son, had finally “come to his senses and decided, “I’m going home!” He had had enough of the ‘promises of Satan’ and the ‘far off country’ and the ‘wild life without boundaries’. Home really looked good from the pig pen, better than it looked when he was home, but finding the way home is more difficult than leaving it.
   Here are some suggestions:
   1.) It all begins with a WAKE UP CALL and a FIRM DECISION to leave the pig pen. What ever the pigpen looks like, (and they all don’t look bad), the decision must be made, TO LEAVE. Not to go to another pigpen, but to go home!
   2.) Don’t let pride get in the way. Pride is what keeps one from saying things like, “I AM SORRY”, “I HAVE SINNED” “PLEASE FORGIVE ME”. Here are some things Solomon says about pride. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2). “A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence” (Proverbs 15:5).”Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud” (Proverbs 16:18-19). “Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin” (Proverbs 21:4). “Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor” (Proverbs 29:23). Pride ‘gone to seed’ hardens the heart, stiffens the knees, is ever on the offensive, and is never in the wrong on anything.
   3.) Take the first step toward home, this is the hardest. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” It is not easy, nor should it be. The son had gone a long way, and done so much… so why should this be easy? Yet when HOME is the goal, somehow, the feeling of “DOING THE RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT TIME” returns. Each step taken in the right direction brought a feeling back to the son… a thought… “WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!”
   4.) Don’t stop till you get there! Don’t settle for another pigpen, or another empty promise from Satan. It won’t be any different in the long run. There was no sign of this son stopping. From the first step towards home till he got there it seems he was rehearsing his confession, “FATHER I HAVE SINNED…”
   5.) ‘Man-up’ with humility. Be big enough to admit wrongs done, with the determination to start over and do better.
   6.) Accept (if there are any)any and all consequences for wrong doing. He, you’re home. At least the time for a new beginning has arrived, and you have a safe place to do it.
   (What if ‘home’ is not a safe place? We’ll deal with that later, but the father’s house, was safe, and that’s where he was going.)