The Prodigal Flat Tire

I got an electric bike to help me get in better shape. I say “better shape” because I am already in shape. Round is a shape, right? And don’t be like one of my friends who said, “Electric bikes aren’t exercise.” Go pound sand, Sparky! I have bum knees and a bad back. I may not be doing the Tour de France, but I am pedaling and exercising, so go back to kicking dogs or taking candy from small children, you joy crusher. But I digress…

Anyway, I have been riding all around the mobile home community where I live, but on Friday I wanted a change of scenery, so I took a ride outside the park

I had ridden for about 20 minutes when something didn’t seem right. I’m not sure how familiar you are with the mechanics of an e-bike, I’m not, but I think we can both figure out quickly that the tires need air in them.

Yep, I had a flat. My back tire was as flat as my little turtle after my brother sat on it.

Fortunately, I discovered the flat right outside a tire shop. A nice mechanic filled my back tire and I was off. I no longer cared about exercise, I just wanted to get home before the air ran out again.

No such luck.

I pushed the bike about half a mile to an oil change place right down the street from my house. I filled the tire up once again and pedaled for home. This time I made it. It had taken me two tries, but I made it home.

I know a lot of people who have tried serving Christ, but somehow the air got taken out of them. They hit a difficulty, or a relationship went bad, or maybe a pastor or a church hurt them. Whatever happened, they gave up and left Jesus behind.

The longer the time after they left, the harder they make it on themselves to return. One man told me, “I can’t go back to Jesus, Jerry. It has been too long.” Too long? Too long for whom? Not God. God is not constrained by our ideas of time, so He’s not the issue.

Often, the issue is our own pride. We would rather struggle in life than admit we need Jesus back in our lives. Instead, we just keep pushing the bike with the flat tire, sweating and cursing, wishing something would change.

Just come home.

In Luke 15 Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son. Tired of waiting for his dad to die, the son goads the father to give him his inheritance and then leaves home. It doesn’t take long for the son to come to ruin, so he decides to eat his pride and go home.

As he gets within distance of his house, broken, hurting and shamed, he sees something:

Luke 15:20

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

Don’t miss this! “While he was still a long way off…” His father was waiting for him to return. The father greeted his wayward son not with a lecture, but an embrace. He wasn’t greeted with anger, he was enveloped in love, a love he took for granted. The father wanted the son to come home more than the son did!

God has been waiting for you to come home, too. Quit making excuses, swallow your pride, and come home.

Your Father is waiting…