Have you ever heard someone say,”I’ve gone too far to come back to church now”? Have you ever thought,” I’ve been too bad to come to Jesus now”? It’s a normal human response. We are used to experiencing relationships with limits and conditions. Marriages are expected to fail. Families dissolve and children are left out.
Is it difficult to imagine that this is not God’s plan for relationships? Or are we so accustomed to broken promises and commitments that we expect the same from Him?
What do we expect from our work relationships? If our behavior or performance doesn’t measure up to the expectations of the boss, how long will we keep the job?
What do we expect from friends? If we aren’t as charming or entertaining as we were in the past, will we stop getting invitations to parties, events, meals?
What do we expect from our church? If we make the wrong mistake, if our behavior doesn’t match with that of the average member, do we start getting the evil glances, the brush offs, maybe even an invitation to go elsewhere?
I’m so glad that our Father values relationships differently than we do.
It’s not about how bad you’ve been or how far you’ve gone. It’s all about how good He is! Do you honestly think that His sacrifice is not big enough to outweigh your sins? How dare you! How dare I? All the way from Hitler to me, our sins are drowned in His love, our evil is overwhelmed by His goodness!
Do you think you need to get your act together before you come to Him? Do you think you need to clean your life up before you’ll be acceptable? His sacrifice is more about His love and His goodness than about our sin, our shortcomings.