What are you trusting in? (Part 3)

Have I Gone Too Far?

If I'm honest, I think this may be one of the saddest questions a person can ask. "Have I gone too far?" "Can God really forgive someone like me?"

Maybe your past is filled with addiction. Maybe it's divorce. Maybe it's an affair. Maybe it's pornography. Maybe it's prison. Maybe it's years of anger. Maybe it's years of ignoring God. Maybe it's something you've never told another living person.

Whatever it is, you wonder... "Have I crossed a line that God won't forgive?"

As I've been reading through the Gospels, I've noticed something that has given me a lot of hope. The people who thought they were too far gone... were often the very people Jesus walked toward.

Think about the woman who had been caught in an affair. The people who brought her wanted to condemn her. The religious leaders were ready to stone her.

Jesus wasn't.

He didn't pretend her sin didn't matter. He didn't tell her it was okay. But He also didn't condemn her. He offered her grace and then told her to leave her life of sin.

Think about the thief on the cross.

His entire life had brought him to the point of dying a criminal's death. He had no opportunity to turn his life around. No chance to make things right. No time to prove himself. He simply turned to Jesus in faith.

Jesus answered him with these words:

"I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43, NLT)

Then there's Paul.

Before he became one of the greatest missionaries in history, he hunted Christians. He dragged believers from their homes. If anyone could have believed they had gone too far... It would've been Paul.

Instead, God completely changed his life and used him to write much of the New Testament. The more I read these stories, the more I realize something. The ground at the foot of the cross is level. Every one of us comes the same way. Broken. Sinful. In need of a Savior.

Paul later wrote something that still amazes me:

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:8, NLT)

Read that again.

It doesn't say Christ died for us after we cleaned ourselves up. It doesn't say He died for us after we finally deserved another chance. It says He died for us while we were still sinners.

That's the gospel.

Sometimes we believe the lie that our sin is greater than God's grace. The Bible teaches the opposite. That doesn't mean our sin isn't serious. It is. Serious enough that Jesus willingly went to the cross to pay for it. But His sacrifice is greater than our worst failure.

If you're reading this today and thinking... "You don't know what I've done." You're right. I don't. But God does. And He loved you enough to send His Son anyway. 

If you're still breathing... If your heart is still beating... If you're reading these words... God's invitation still stands. Not because your past is small.

But because His grace is greater.

Jesus Himself said:

"Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'" (Matthew 11:28, NLT)

That's His invitation.

Not to people who have it all together. Not to people who have earned another chance. To people who are weary. To people carrying heavy burdens. To people who know they need Him.

If that's you...Come to Jesus.

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