Return To Me

RETURN TO ME

There are times when we might stray from the Lord. Sometimes it lasts for a short period; sometimes it's for a longer period. When it happens God longs for our return and never gives up on us. He'll go out of his way to try to bring us to our senses so we would return to him.

People can be like that but it can be in an unhealthy way like when a couple breaks up and one person stalks the other. God's longing for our return is not based on being dependent on us or his obsessed with us; it's based on his love for us. And it's all for our benefit.

1) God calls for us to return to him.

In the time of Nehemiah the prophet, the Jews were in exile. God allowed the Babylonians to take them captive because they had rebelled against the Lord. The book of Nehemiah starts out with him getting a visit from one of his brothers, Hanani. Nehemiah asked how things were in Jerusalem. He received a bad report: the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates had been burned. Vs. 4 says when Nehemiah heard this he sat down and wept. In the following days he mourned, fasted and prayed.

Neh. 1:5-9, "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you night and day for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’"

Nehemiah acknowledges two things-how great God is and how unfaithful he and his people had been. This is important in returning to God. The reason we stray is because we've decided that God isn't so great anymore. We might not say that but that's how we're thinking and behaving. Maybe we came to Christ under false pretenses-that our lives would be wonderful and all our problems would be gone. When that doesn't happen we conclude it wasn't worth it and we go back to our old way of living.

Perhaps we're lured away by old habits or a new relationship. If we allow these things to pull us away we're concluding that God can't do for us what these other things or people can. We may even drift away by getting involved in good things. We become busy with volunteer work or projects and before you know it we're compromising on the most important thing-our relationship with Jesus.

We see Nehemiah acknowledged his disobedience. In order for us to return to God we need to conclude the problem is us, not him; the problem is us, not someone else. When Adam and Eve sinned, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. But Adam and Eve needed to take responsibility for their own actions, regardless of the actions of others.

Yes, Satan and others can play a part in negatively influencing us, but we have the ability and responsibility to stay true to God despite the actions of others. When we are in Christ, nothing can pull us away unless we allow it to happen.

In humility, Nehemiah acknowledges that God had warned his people what would happen if they were unfaithful. So, we can't blame God for the consequences of our actions when we move away from him.

Lam. 3:39-42, "Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven."

Why should we get upset at God when we suffer the consequences for our poor choices? We can either blame shift and wallow in pity or we can examine our ways, take responsibility for our actions, repent and return to God. When Jeremiah says, 'and you have not forgiven', it was because his people have not returned to God. Once they do return, God will be quick to forgive and restore.

2) God rejoices when we return.

If you read on in Nehemiah, you'll see that he had a plan to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. Returning to the Lord requires action. We can't just come to our senses, we need to act on it. When we do, there is much rejoicing.