This is a true story about an American general. I won't mention his name because I think it will distract you from the message, but I want to tell you that this general was extremely popular among Americans. He was a good Christian, had a happy marriage, and everyone considered him an extraordinary man. Everyone thought he was a phenomenal example for the nation.

This general had only one son, and despite his demanding career, he dedicated a lot of time to his son because he loved him very much. His son was the light of his life, so he would give his life for him despite the numerous activities that consumed his time, and as the years passed, it paid off. His son promised to be a wonderful example for the country, just as his father was.

One day, the U.S. entered a war, and the general traveled to lead operations abroad. When they won the war, that general became the leader of the conquered nation until an appropriate government was established.

Now, as the leader of that country, he sought to favor them, as emotions were turbulent, which is normal after a war. He sought to befriend those people to show that he was no longer the enemy, no longer going to bomb them. So, as a gesture of friendship, he sent his only son to study at one of the country's schools.

When he sent his son to school, they thought it was a good opportunity for revenge. I don't know exactly how, but they completely brainwashed the young man and corrupted him until he became utterly infamous and immoral, completely alienated from his father and even changed his name to escape the pressure of being associated with his father.

Naturally, the general was heartbroken and devised a very absurd plan through which he believed he could win his son back. The son wanted no association with his father, but the father created this plan that he believed was perfect to win his son back. The first time his officers heard the plan, they said: Absolutely impossible, it would never work! But the general talked to them until he convinced them, and they finally decided to let him try.

The plan was something like this. The general would go to the village where his son lived, disguised as a common laborer, and try to win his son back. You must be thinking, how could a general do that? But you need to understand that no one expected to find a general like him on the streets, no one anticipated that, so he disguised himself and went to the village.

To make a long story short. Eventually, the man truly became friends with the young man and began to convince him to return to the life he had scorned. He slowly began to influence him to return to his father. One day, after a long time, the young man came to the man – he didn't know it was his father – and with tears in his eyes told him that he wanted to return and reconcile with his father, but he didn't know if his father would accept him back, because of the way he had dishonored his impeccable name.

Then the man also began to cry and told him, “I have something to tell you. I am a very successful man, I have everything I could want, but I lost the one thing I truly want, the thing I desire most – I lost my son, and I left everything behind just to win him back.” Then he looked at the young man and said, “Son, I don't care how much you dishonored my name, I just want you back.”

The young man was astonished because he couldn't believe that his brilliant and famous father would take time away from his career, convince his officers to cooperate with him, ignore his personal safety, and disregard American protocol just to try and win him back.

That was a turning point in the young man's life, and he lived the rest of his life to show how grateful he was for a love that had left everything behind. And he became a great example for the country, just as his father was.

Why am I telling you this story? Well, first of all, the first part of this story happened at the beginning of the last century. The second part of the story is still happening with all of us. Because our Heavenly Father has everything He desires in the universe. Let's think for a moment: He has the adoration of angels, the loyalty of unfallen worlds. He only has to think, and limitless space and incomparable beauty come into existence. He possesses pavements of gold and endless crystal seas. All the time, angels and beings surround Him, singing, “Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” God has everything He could want in the universe, except the one thing He wants most – our hearts.

Would it be a bit arrogant of me to say that this is what God wants most in the universe? Initially, I even questioned myself, but then I thought about it and decided no, do you know why? Because when God lost His connection with this planet, when we sinned and broke that perfect connection with Him, God had a choice to make, and do you know what He decided to do? He decided to risk His very existence, the existence of the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – God Himself. He decided to risk everything to try and win us back. He decided to let His Son come to this world, and what if one small thing had gone wrong? Please try to understand this: if one small thing had gone wrong in the plan of salvation, there would have been no other solution, no escape. There would have been eternal justice – God, and eternal sin – Jesus, had He disobeyed. God would be warring against Himself! The foundation of the universe's happiness would have been destroyed, because God would somehow be separated into two. Countless worlds would have lost their happiness; it would have evaporated in an instant.

But God was willing to take that risk because He wanted to win us back. And after putting Himself at that risk, that enormous risk, and succeeding, we still remain here with rebellious hearts and don't want to give Him our hearts. How would you feel, in the story, if when that man was crying and saying, “Son, I just want you back.” How would we feel if the young man said, “You're my father? I'm out, see ya.” What feelings would we have towards him? We would feel aversion towards him, right? But isn't that exactly what we do to God all the time?

“So children, come to Jesus. Give to Jesus the most precious offering you can make; give Him your heart.” Youth Instructor, June 30, 1892.

Written by Natasha Nebblett. Translated and used with permission.

‍