Luke 15:20: “So he got up and went to his father.”

This is the turning point of the whole story. Without this one verse, this man’s story would have been just another fantasy to be free. However, this small verse is packed with important ideas that are necessary for those of us who want recovery to truly get it.

Here is an important question: Where was this man when he destroyed his own life? That’s right; he was still in a distant country. He was probably hundreds or thousands of miles from home.

This was not a two-day walk; it required weeks, perhaps months. He had to walk constantly and persistently in the opposite direction of his addiction lifestyle. He had to forsake people, places, and things he might have grown fond of in his addiction. He had to leave all with which he had become familiar and walk a long way to reach home. Recovery can be measured. If you’re doing the work, you want to be free. If you’re not doing the work, you only wish to be free, but are unwilling to do what recovery requires.

The son had done the work of recovery daily, consistently, over a long period of time. Every day his character improved. No alcohol, no prostitutes, no crazy spending, no out of control behavior; he made a complete change in his life’s direction. Broken of self-will, determined to be free from his past, committed to serve others, he found his recovery.