What Keeps Us Apart

On Saturday I visited a young man in a Federal Correctional Institute.  We had a great visit and God is doing a work in his life.  But the most memorable event of the visit happened while I was waiting for him to come to the visitation center.  As I stood against the wall watching families re-unite, my attention was drawn to a young man and a young lady.  They were standing about 10 feet from me.  Out of the corner of my eye I see a man approaching.  He comes to the young man and embraces.  He then embraces the young woman.  Then, he looks back at the young man, puts his arm around him again.  While he is embracing both of these visitors, the group turns slightly and I get a glimpse of his face.  He is smiling and crying at the same time.  A joyful, emotional reunion.

I was reminded of the Prodigal Son; how he chose to go his own way, do his own thing, but how his father welcomed him home.  The son, in his mind, had allowed his decision to become a wall of separation between him and his father.  The older brother, on the prodigal's return, allowed his jealousy to become a wall of separation between him and his sibling.  What have you allowed in your life that separates you from the ones you love and care about? 

See, there were walls that had separated this family I watched on Saturday.  But when those those walls were no longer separating the family, there was a joyous reunion.  Take time to assess your life; take time to look at the walls that separate you from friends and family.  Determine to scale those walls; determine to tear them down.  Because on the other side is a joyous reunion.