Motel 6’s slogan is “We’ll keep the lights on for you.” I think the idea behind this slogan is that wherever you go, there will always be a place to come home to where the light will be on and someone will be expecting you. As a child, there was no better feeling after a “long hard school day” of coming home and having my mom there to meet me at the door. As a parent, coming in after a long day at the office, it was great to be met at the door by my children when they were young as they would throw their arms around me and yell “daddy’s home!” The older we get, or the older our children get, or when we lose a loved one, we don’t get to experience that same feeling we once had. Maybe after a trip we’re excited to get back to the house and unwind, but it’s different when there is not someone there at the door to welcome us home. Over these last few weeks, while my family has been out of town visiting Julia’s family, I am very mindful of the complete silence in the house with no one around, especially at night. There are no conversations, no nighttime routines, no goodnight hugs and kisses. I can say, it gets lonely.

Yet, it’s at this time that the parable of the Prodigal Son comes to mind, especially when it says in Luke 15:20, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” It is the story of a son who wanted to go out and experience all the world had to offer. It took losing everything for him to realize all that he had left behind. He came to his senses and made the choice to go home, and when he did, much to his surprise, his father ran to him and received him with open arms in order to welcome him home.

In today’s world, I believe there are countless people, even those within churches, who feel alone and long for that experience of someone waiting to meet them “at the door” of their life, to throw their arms around them and say “Welcome home!” Some are alone because they literally have no one in life to turn to, others are alone due to choices made and actions taken. Some are simply lost due to sin but don’t know how to find their way out. It’s to these and many more people that we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, need to reach out, even run to them and throw our arms around them and say, “I’m so glad to see you!” and “Welcome home!” As the old camp song reminds us, God’s house is “a big, big house, with lots and lots of rooms!” Are we willing to invite people home to God’s house and his presence? Will we keep the lights on in order to draw people out of darkness to the light of Jesus, who is the light of the world (John 8:!2)? God’s light will never fade, his invitation to come home is an open invitation, and His desire to meet you at the door with arms wide open, regardless of where you’ve been, will never cease. All He asks is that we receive it for ourself and offer it to others, to come home into His presence because “He’ll keep the lights on!”

God bless you,