Malachi 3:7 “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’”

Zechariah 1:3-4 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus declares the Lord of hosts. Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.”

All throughout the Old Testament we find God’s chosen people Israel disobeying and turning from God’s ways to follow their own ways or the ways of others. God sent prophet after prophet to his people with warnings and directions for how to find their way back to him. One point God made over and over to his people was “Return to me”. Not “Return and face the consequences” (although we all know and understand that mistakes are often accompanied by consequences) or “Return so I can beat you up and make you feel bad because of what you did to me”. It was simply “come back”…I’m waiting. Often the Lord’s pleas would go unanswered or else they were simply ignored altogether. God speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit (some, who do not yet understand spiritual things refer to this as a conscience) and through others to try and get us to turn back when we are heading the wrong way. Parents, friends, loved ones and strangers, God will use them all to reach us when we have tuned him out. And regardless of how they phrase it, God’s message is still the same…”Return to me”.

Pray: “Father, adjust my hearing so that I will never again be deaf to your call. Thinking back, I can see many times you tried to reach me through your word, through your own voice inside me, and through others. Although the chances of me straying again are real, help me to prepare to listen. Thank you for not giving up on me, and for always wanting me to “return” to you. In Jesus name I thank you - Amen.”