Please, come back home.

It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when Erin’s mum, Mathilda got a call from his school, “Erin got involved in a fight today, we’ll have to take disciplinary action”, the voice on the other end said. It was the fifth time that term, which meant that suspension was inevitable. “He would be sent back home with the school bus”, the voice added. She thanked the caller and ended the call.

She was deeply troubled about his recent behaviour as he had gotten into more trouble in the current school year than in his 13-year lifetime. After informing her boss, she took the rest of the day off, got into her car, and drove home, her mind racing.

Mathilda parked her car in front of the house and hurried into the rain. To her surprise, the front door was ajar. “Why was the door opened?”, she wondered. Stepping into the house, something felt off. “Erin!”, she called out, but was met with silence. She kept calling out for her child, but he was not responding.

She opened the door to Erin’s room, and she noticed that his essentials were missing. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and feel the tears welling up. Erin was all that she had, and she didn’t know where to start looking.

Erin hadn’t just come home. He had run away.

9 But the Lord God called to the man. The Lord said, “Where are you?”

-Genesis 3:9 (ICB)

Maybe you’re like Erin and you ran away from home. How long has it been now? Four days? a week? a couple of months? or have you lost count completely? I know you were God’s most loyal soldier, his favourite baby but compromise set in. It started off as a small deviation, an occasional “free day”, a little moving of the goal post and now you’re on the other end of the field.

Did you make light of your consecrations? I’m sure you didn’t intend for things to turn out this way. Trust me when I say that nobody does, ask Adam and Eve. It’s the concept of reasonable doubt.

In a criminal proceeding, the standard to which the parties must prove their case is beyond reasonable doubt. This is the level of doubt that an average person would have about a particular fact before the court. Walk with me, please.

1 Now the snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake spoke to the woman. He said, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

2 The woman answered the snake, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die.’”

-Genesis 3:1-3 (ICB)

“Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”. This is the devil asking them in plain terms, “did your good God really restrict you from eating some fruits in the garden? Nawa o!”. I know right. All the devil needed to do was cast a shadow of doubt on God’s instruction and that was enough for Eve to begin to see God in a different light.

Maybe the consecration God gave you was, “ don’t talk to people of the opposite gender once it is past 10 pm” and you were committed to it. Until you met a guy you really liked and he was giving you hot gist one night and 10 pm passed. You waived the rule once and since then you never turned back. Unfortunately, as you read this you’re at the mercy of the sin that easily besets you.

The devil need not be upfront with you (he's sharp guy), he just needs to sow a seed of doubt, a seed that makes it look like “God is doing too much” or asking too much of you and the court (you) will find that fact (consecration) inadmissible.

Something profound that I heard Princess Iman say is, “your consecrations will keep you” and then it all made sense. Your consecrations aren’t just for God, they’re also for you. These do’s and don’ts can be likened to the railings on a balcony that keep you from falling and hurting yourself. Your consecrations are an act of love from your Father to you.

Then, you tried to make things right, you tried to mend things by your own effort. You became very active in your church unit but you knew deep down that your walk with God was not right. You thought that if you wore yourself out with “God’s work”, it would make it alright. Imagine you had a white singlet that you turned to a shoe rag and it functioned in it’s new role for a long time. Then, one day you decided to return things to the way they were. You washed, soaked, bleached, scrubbed but the dirt wouldn't come off! You tried everything that you could but your efforts didn't show. Sounds familiar?

Your Father knew that you were going to make an effort, He knew that you were going to try to save yourself but Isaiah 64:6 says “and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment”. We may try but our self inspired efforts will never be enough. We will never be able to restore our shoe rags but, I can point you to the way back home.

[6] Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life. No one comes next to the Father except through union with me. To know me is to know my Father too.

-John 14:6 (TPT )

The Way is more than sufficient to save you. He's able to restore you completely. He's able to bring you back home. The scripture above says that if you know Him, you know His Father too.

Like Mathilda, your Father is waiting for you. He's standing at the door and waiting, waiting for the day that you would return home. His arms are wide open to receive you and cover you, please embrace Him. Don't stay away for too long, home is where you belong💕.

Ditch your secret sins, cast away your idols. Daddy is calling, please go home.

I made a playlist to guide you back home, enjoyyy:

If you enjoyed this piece, please like it, share it with someone who needs to come home, comment, and share a screenshot on your Instagram stories tagging me @its.ekohimii, I’ll repost it🤭💕.