• When it welcomed you with arms wide open when you’d hit rock bottom?
• When someone sat down with you and listened to you; gave you counseling without judging you?
• When the prayers you received felt like a cup of fresh water to a weary traveler from the desert?
• When you opened the Bible and for the first time God spoke to you?
• When you clearly saw who the devil was and what he was doing to you, and how you needed God’s help to overcome him?
• When you called out to God with all your strength and He heard you?
• When you used to appreciate the work of the pastor and would thank God for him?
• When you realized you were lost in your sins, and with a great fear of death, you cried out to Jesus for salvation?
• When you used to have the bread and the wine at the table of your Lord?
• When you wanted to tell everyone about the God you had met?
• When your greatest desire was to please God and walk righteously before Him?
• When, despite the struggles, your days were full of the joy of the Holy Spirit?
• When you used to trust that God would make everything be alright in the end?

Until one day, something happened.

Someone let you down; you prayers were not answered the way you expected; you got tired of waiting; you tried to give God a hand by solving your problems on your own; someone made a negative remark about the church, the pastor or the bishop; your eyes were no longer pure; your faith grew cold; the world looked more colorful and attractive to you; you gave up praying yet you did not miss it, at first.

Suddenly, you see yourself today cold, empty and overwhelmed with problems, feeling too weak to come back to God. Your so-called “friends” don’t care about you anymore. Everything happened without you even noticing it. Today, you long for what you once had with God. The past seems so far away, almost impossible to be relived.

Stop.

Use your intelligence. Be callous to your emotions. Kill your shame.

“Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5

He makes all things new. Do yourself a favor: Come back to God — do it for yourself, not to please anybody or to show off. After all, you are the only one that has something to lose or to gain.

Remember this, too.

Every day, but especially on Sunday mornings, the Universal Church opens its doors for you. Decide to come back. Type your “Comeback declaration” below.