Sanctified Steps: While You Were Still A Long Way off| Luke 15:20 (KJV)

 

While You Were Sill A Long Way Off: Luke 15:20

📖 Scripture:

"But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." — Luke 15:20 (KJV)

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Devotional:

Sometimes we’re so busy staring at the distance between where we are and where we want to be, we forget—God’s already running toward us.

Darren thought he had to earn his way back into his daughter’s life. And maybe you’ve felt the same—that your past disqualifies you from love, from peace, from being seen. But Luke 15 reminds us: God doesn’t wait for an apology to love you. He loves while you’re still on the way.

The Father didn’t stand with crossed arms waiting for explanations. He ran. He ran. Compassion moved Him. Grace carried Him. He didn’t wait for the right words—He responded to the return.

And that’s what God does for us. Even with the weight of regret on our shoulders and unanswered texts still lingering, His love outruns our shame.

If you've ever asked, “What if God forgives me… but they don’t?”—know this: God’s love is not contingent on anyone else’s response. He sees you. Still loves you. Still runs toward you.

Reflection:

• Have you been trying to earn your way back to grace?
• Are you afraid that your past disqualifies you from restoration?
• What if the return was enough? What if the first step was all it took?

Daily Wisdom Insight:

Grace doesn’t wait at the finish line. It meets you on the road.
You don’t have to get everything right before God embraces you.
Healing often begins not with answers, but with a step toward home.

 Application:

Today, write down the name of someone you’re praying for—or someone you need to forgive. Then circle it, like Darren did. Let that be your prayer: a symbol of grace meeting the past with the hope of a new beginning. You don’t have to fix it all… but you can open the door.

Prayer:

Father,

Thank You for seeing me even when I’m a long way off.
I’m tired of carrying regret.
Help me to believe that Your love runs toward me, not away from me.
Give me the courage to return… and the grace to wait for others doing the same.
In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

💬 Discussion Questions:

• Have you ever experienced someone showing you grace when you didn’t feel worthy?

• What’s one small way you can extend compassion to someone who may be “a long way off”?

• How can you model the Father’s heart—one that runs, embraces, and loves first?

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