Your Heart’s True Home
This morning I was reading my devotion from C.H. Spurgeon, and it was wonderful. I thought it would be nice to share as well.
[Noah] reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. - Genesis 8:9
Wearied by her long, wandering flight, the dove finally returned to the ark as her only resting place. How heavy she must have felt - ready to drop - as though she would never reach the ark. But she struggled on. Noah had been looking for his dove all day, standing ready to receive her. Yet she had only enough strength remaining to reach the very edge of the ark. She could hardly alight upon it, being totally spent, when Noah “reached out his hand and brought it back to himself.”
Carefully notice these words: “brought it back to himself.” She did not fly into the ark, because she was either too fearful or too weary to do so. She flew as far as she could and the Noah “reached out his hand and brought it back to himself.” This act of mercy was shown to the wandering dove, but notice that she was not scolded for her wanderings and was brought back into the ark just as she was.
You too, backsliding sinner, will be received by the Lord with all your sin - only return. These are God’s simple, but gracious words: only return. What! Nothing else is required? No, only return. On this flight, the dove had no olive leaf in her mouth, and thus returned from her wanderings with nothing but herself. She simply needed to return and, upon doing so, Noah brought her “back to himself.”
Fly, O wanderer; fly, O weary dove that you are! Although you may think of yourself as being as dark as a raven with the mire of sin, return to your Savior. Every moment you delay only increases your misery, and your vain attempts to purify yourself, to make yourself fir for Jesus, are all worthless. Come to Him just as you are. “‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord” (Jer. 3:12 NKJV). Notice He does not say “Return, repenting Israel.” Obviously, He desires your repentance, but His first invitation is to you as His backsliding one, inviting you to return with all your backslidings still about you.
Return, return, return! Jesus is waiting for you! And He will reach “out His hand” and take you “back to himself” - you’re hearts true home.
