For anyone who knows my wife, they know that she is a Costco shopper. Started out of necessity . . . what, with 5 kids of our own . . . and the associated “gaggle” of friends they bring . . . and then foster kids . . . it was the right store that sold the right portions at the right price. And it continues to be the store of choice although, as the nest has emptied (though it has a way filling up again . . . but that’s another story) she’s finding she doesn’t need to buy food in such portions. But beyond the food, it tends to be the first place she goes for other stuff, as well. And, in addition to ease of access and quality of product, one of the main reasons she continues to shop there is because of their no hassle return policy. If it isn’t quite what we wanted, she takes it back . . . if it doesn’t work quite right, she take it back . . . if the person who asked her to buy it for them changes their mind . . . back it goes . . . no sweat. You gotta love a good return policy. I encountered another one in Isaiah this morning . . .

“I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” (Isa. 44:22)

I own the God of Israel’s words to Jacob this morning as my own. His is a return policy like no other . . . I have blotted out your sin . . . I have redeemed you . . . return to me.

The basis for the “policy” came through loud and clear in my reading in Hebrews 10 this morning . . . “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (10:10) . . . this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God (10:12) . . . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (10:14) . . . ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’ (10:16-17)”.

Talk about your “no hassle” return policy! Not that it wasn’t without cost . . . not that it can be exercised carelessly or thoughtlessly . . . but, for those who wish to return, the way has been prepared. For those who hear His voice . . . acknowledge their sin . . . recognize they’re headed in the wrong direction . . . the Lord’s invitation awaits, “Return to Me.” And while this is true of the sinner who has never known salvation, I’m reminded this morning it’s also so true for believers like me who, from time to time, get a bit off course and find too the need to return.

There’s something about knowing there’s a way back . . . it’s not the basis for presumption and license and playing loose with the call of God on my life, but it is the assurance that, should I find myself in need of a return . . . should I have tripped up in a fault . . . should I have misaligned my internal GPS with other priorities . . . should I have edged Him off the throne of my life . . . that there is an open, unrestricted way of return. Kept open by the God who desires to love me to the uttermost . . . mediated through the work of His Son, my faithful High Priest . . . . . . accessible through the agency of the Spirit within me who prays on my behalf even when I don’t know the words to pray. You gotta love a good return policy!

It was secured by the One who endured the shame, pain, and penalty of my sin upon a cruel cross . He being the once for all sacrifice for sin. His, the once for all shedding of blood that opened the way into the Holy of Holies . . . the once for all act of love that points to the way back. Mine is not to take it lightly . . . or to take it for granted . . . but to know it is available if and when needed . . . that there is always a way of return . . . that He ever calls out to the wayward, “Return to Me.”

What a return policy! Praise God! . . . amen?