I remember trying to teach my kids to tie their shoes. This is the days before Velcro and slip-ons. After tripping over their untied shoelaces, they would simply tie them in knots. It was my responsibility to get a fork out of the drawer, and attempt to untie the knots they had made.
We often get our life tied up in knots. We make unwise decisions, wrong turns, and find ourselves down the wrong path. Then we are forced to live with the consequences of our knot tying.
The Bible talks about a young man we often call the prodigal son. He demanded from his father his inheritance and journeyed into that far country. He then began to spend his inheritance on loose living and a wild lifestyle. It wasn’t long before his money ran out and his friends left him. Then he became so hungry that he would have eaten the food given to the pigs. We could say that he had gotten his life pretty well tied up in knots. Then he realized something. Even his father’s hired servants eat better than this. He decided to go back home and ask his dad for a servant’s job. The story continues with the father welcoming his wandering son back into his warm embrace. He gives him a robe and a ring and kills the fattened calf, and celebrates his return. Dad was there to help his son untie the knots he had made of his life.
God is the Master “knot-untyer”. He will welcome us home if we return to Him. He will forgive our sins and wash off the mud from the pig pen. God continues His knot untying by giving us instructions from His Word on how to live a life of victory over our sinful decisions.
Are you finding yourself in the prodigal’s shoes that are firmly tied up in knots? Perhaps God has restored you before but you have done it again and are tripping over your knotted up lifestyle. Return home. Your Father knows how to untie the knots.