I have heard the phrase before, and likely you have too. Maybe you’ve even said it: “Too far gone”
Some people feel too far gone from a relationship with God that they see no point in returning. Surely God cannot or will not forgive them, as they’ve spent so much of their life away from Him. Surely God will not forgive, because they’ve committed heinous sins against Him. They have traveled far away from the straight and narrow, and surely they are too far gone.
The only probably is, that’s impossible for God. Too far is impossible with the God of the universe.
God wants all men, everywhere, to repent and be saved (1 Timothy 2:4, John 3:16). That means the people who feel like they’ve sinned a little, and people who feel like they’ve sinned a lot. People who have been away from God for a day, and people who have been away from God for a decade. All men encompasses every single person. God wants everyone in heaven with Him. If He didn’t, He wouldn’t have sent His Son to die a cruel death on our behalf.
And so, if you feel like you have strayed from God, go home. Jesus taught of a prodigal son who left his father’s home, went and participated in all kinds of riotous and rebellious acts, and ultimately found himself in a pigpen — which is not the place a Jewish boy should be! And yet, this boy came to himself. We don’t know how long he’d been away, but time had elapsed. Still, when he realized how far he was, he turned back around. He went back home, apologetic and repentant. And the father? He wasn’t simply waiting on the boy to return. Instead, he was watching for the boy to return! And when he saw him, he ran to him and kissed him and embraced him!
Our Father longs to do that with you. Our Father is watching for you to return to Him. He is ready to forgive. And when He forgives, there’s a new kind of far involved:
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)
Don’t let your self-imposed “too far” get in the way of your relationship with God — in the way of the relationship God wants to have with you. Nothing you’ve done can’t be forgiven. Jesus died to make it so. Don’t allow the precious blood of Jesus to have been spilt in vain on your account. Let it cleanse you. Let it make you whole. Let it forgive, and wash those sins far, far away. So far that they are away from God’s remembrance.
