Cristobal :
Who Told You You're Too Far Gone?
"And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."
Luke 15:20 (KJV)
At some point you decided you'd gone too far to come back, and you've believed it ever since.
Too much wasted. Too far down the same road to come back clean now.
You keep your distance from God these days.
You figure you'll deal with Him once you've cleaned yourself up enough to be worth the conversation.
Who told you there was a line you could put yourself on the wrong side of for good?
Look at the father in the story:
His son is still a long way off, still smelling like the pigs he'd been feeding.
The father spots him from way down the road and takes off running.
You have to understand what that meant back then.
A grown man with means did not run. It was beneath him, the kind of thing that got you talked about for a week.
He ran anyway, robe gathered up in his fists, because his boy was finally pointed back toward home.
The kid never even got his apology out.
The father was already on his neck, kissing him, before the speech could leave his mouth.
You don't have to crawl your way back. You just have to turn around.
The running is His part.
This is the gospel standing right in front of you with a face on it.
While you were still a long way off, still in your mess, Jesus closed the whole distance Himself.
He died and rose, and set a Father at the finish line of your turn instead of a judge.
Here's how you move today:
Quit waiting until you're presentable.
The son came home filthy and broke. Come exactly as you are.
Turn around.
One real step in His direction is everything the story needed. He covers the rest of the ground at a dead sprint.
When shame tells you you're too far, picture the father already running.
The distance was always His to close, not yours.
PRAYER
Lord, I've been standing way off, sure I'd finally gone too far to come back.
Thank You for being the kind of Father who runs.
I'm turning around right now, dirt and all, no speech ready.
Meet me on the road.
In the beautiful name of Jesus. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang
2026-07-06 12:53:48