There’s an old song that goes:
“Many years ago in days of childhood, I used to play till evening shadows come. Then winding down that old familiar pathway, I’d hear my mother call at set of sun, “Come home, come home it’s supper time. The shadows lengthen fast. Come home, come home, it’s supper time. We’re going home at last.”
I cannot hear that song without a lump rising in my throat as I remember my own mother’s call like that one, oh, so long ago in childhood. And even today,her voice echoes through my memory.
There is a similar call that ought to resonate through the minds of many today. That’s the call of the Savior in His revealed Word, saying, “Come home, child.” How many souls stand in jeopardy this day because they have left the Savior and returned to the world? They may not be immoral or vile, but they have simply shunned and neglected Christ and His church, as did Demas, whom Paul said, “loved this present world” (II Timothy 4:10).
The erring child of God stands daily in jeopardy of losing his soul eternally because he has chosen to leave the only Way to the Father (John 14:6). But the mental and physical abilities to come home are still in his possession. Those abilities are gifts from God, but he will not always possess them. Peter told Ananias that the land he and Sapphira sold was theirs to do with as they willed, and asked them even after it was sold, “was it not in thine own power?” (Acts 5:4). The things God has granted us are ours to use as we see fit. Those things include our thinking and reasoning abilities and time. Yes, God has given us time to repent because He is not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:9). God does not want you to be lost eternally, but He will not force His salvation upon you. He is longsuffering and wants you to come to Him of your own free will. That is in your power today, but it may not be in your power tomorrow.
Think about the condition of your soul today. If you have left Jesus for the world, your condition is worse than if you had never obeyed the Gospel. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (II Peter 2:20–21).
Mothers and fathers, long departed from this world, still raise their voices in memory, saying, “Come home.” Faithful Christian friends who love you, gently implore, “Come home.” Dear cousins, uncles, and in-laws who love you, kindly plead, “Come home.” Parents who love you more than life itself, pray and plead for you to “come home,” and the Savior, Who died a criminal's death to wash your soul white as snow in His guiltless blood, says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
We love you more than you will ever know and the Savior loves you even more than we do. Won’t you hear His voice? Won't you resolve to “come home” today, to faithfully follow Him and enter the joy of Heaven when this short life ends? This plea is set before you because God, Who gave His Son for you does not want you to perish (John 3:16), and because we love you so much.
Jerry Brewer