Back when I was a kid in the second grade, an unforgettable scene played out at our house. There was a sudden knock at the front door during dinner, and my dad stepped outside, closing the door behind him. A while later, he walked back in with my older half-brother, Mike.

Mike had served in an Army special ops unit in Vietnam, came home rattled by the trauma, and ended up running with the Hell’s Angels. To my dad—a proud WWII veteran—it must have felt like his boy had been completely lost. But when Mike came to his senses and walked up to that porch, my dad didn’t greet him with a lecture or slam the door. He took him down for a haircut and a shave, got him cleaned up, and welcomed him straight back to the family table. It was the prodigal son all over again.

That earthly reunion is just a tiny glimpse of the heart of God:

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Luke 15:31-32

In the parable of the prodigal son, the boy had rehearsed a long speech begging to be treated like a hired servant. He knew how badly he had failed. But before he could even finish his apology, the father was running down the road, throwing his arms around him, and calling for a celebration.

That is the relentless mercy of our Heavenly Father. He isn’t sitting back with folded arms waiting for you to prove yourself worthy of returning. The second your heart turns toward Him, He is ready to embrace you, forgive you, and bring you home.

Have you been holding back from drawing close to God because you feel unworthy of His embrace?