One of my favorite things to do with my girls when they were younger was to read. We still have an entire library of children's books. My girls don't need me to read to them anymore, so it was kind of funny that a particular book came to my mind this past week and caused me to search for the book with a purpose.
The book was "Runaway Bunny" ( I know I should underline that, but I don't have that feature through the blog) by Margaret Wise Brown. It is a classic children's book about a little bunny who keeps running away from his mother. The mother assures her little bunny that wherever he goes, she will go too.
Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, "I am running away."
"If you run away," said his mother, "I will run after you. For you are my little bunny."
The little bunny decides he will become a fish in a stream, and the mother becomes a fisherman to catch him. The little bunny decides to become a bird, and the mother becomes a tree for the bird to come home to. The little bunny decides to become a sailboat, and the mother becomes the wind to blow him where she wants him to go.
My girls would always ask me if I would search for them if they were ever to get lost. I would tell them with tears in my eyes that I would never, never stop searching for them if they were to become lost. And on the same note, I would reassure them that there was nothing that they could do to diminish the love that their father and I have for them.
That is exactly what God has said, and done, for us! He sees us go astray and he searches for us. He used creation, miracles, and especially His word, to call out to us. When we did not respond to that, he became flesh so that we could know the depth of His love and that he would go to extremes to give us a link to Him. Jesus talked in parables, and there are three parables together in Luke 15 where He describes what it is like to be a precious child of God.
The lost sheep reminds us that the shepherd will go search for the one lost sheep and when that sheep is found he will put it on HIS shoulders and bring that sheep home. There will be rejoicing. The story of the lost coin is about a woman who seeks diligently until she finds the precious coin. The final parable is of the prodigal son who does not want to live with his father so he goes out into the world only to find out that things are not as he thought. He decides to go back to his father's house, and while at a distance his father sees him coming and runs to him. There was great rejoicing that the son had come home.
These parables all have the same theme. When we are lost, God will search for us. We are precious to Him. He never, never stops looking for us to come home. It does not matter what we have done in the past. When we give our sin and shame over to Him, he cleans us white as snow.
If you have runaway from God, I hope you realize that He is searching for you and will not stop until you come home.
Love,
Sandy
