It's a Twister!

"So he got up and went to his father. 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." Luke 15:20

    Dorothy gathered Toto in her basket and ran away from home, determined to go her own way. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the winds were kicking up, the shutters were flapping as the Bert Lahr character ominously proclaimed, "It's a twister!" Auntie Em, frantically searching for Dorothy with a furrowed brow, was ringing her hands in her apron, reluctant to enter the safety of the cellar, even though Uncle Henry was imploring her to do so. "Where is she? Where's Dorothy?" Tumbleweeds battered her ankles amid howling winds as she entered the portal, right before the door was shut.

    In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the Father is wringing His hands, searching the horizon for the lost to return home. Think of all the times in the Scriptures when we are invited to come. Jesus says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) He wept over Jerusalem, lamenting, "How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Luke 13:34) Can you detect the emotion of His voice?

    The final invitation in the Bible is found in Revelation 22:17: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." Three verses later, it's Jesus who is coming: 

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20

The storm clouds are roiling; the winds are whipping. Where are you? Come on!