I pray these thoughts will encourage you to think deeply and pray sincerely.

In our fallen world with complicated interpersonal relationships, we sometimes find it necessary to separate ourselves from those we love.

I’m not talking about what happened when you got cut off in traffic. This is worse than that.

Sin is the cause of our often flawed and sometimes failed human relationships. I’m talking about my sin, your sin, and our sin-broken world. And for the overall good of ourselves and those we love, it’s sometimes necessary to let someone stay out of our innermost circle of reach.

But please don’t think that person is out of Jesus’s reach.

Jesus is seeking to heal every broken place in every broken person.

However, some people we love insist on staying neck-deep in selfishness. Some refuse to get help and learn to set and respect appropriate boundaries. They become toxic, and for our own well-being, we keep them out of our daily circle of life.

I’m so glad that Jesus knows no such problematic issues! In fact, there’s never been anything you and I could do to separate ourselves from His love. Even better, there’s no such place we could go that we’re out of His reach.

But please don’t forget to pray for that person when they come to mind. They’re not so far gone that Jesus can’t help them. And neither are you.

Jesus never put people out of His proximity! By the fallacy of our sin, we can try to live far from His presence, but that’s our choice. But we are never out of His reach.

As a matter of precedent, we know His grace does the opposite. He is wounded when we choose to live apart from Him. A search and rescue operation has already been planned to find the one who is straying from His protective grace.

Our God doesn’t banish His Kingdom’s detractors and defectors.

Instead…

• Like a Shepherd, Jesus has come to seek and to save this which was lost (Luke 19:10, John 14:6).
• Our Father in Heaven is drawing us to our senses to wake up and realize how good He is (John 6:44, Luke 12:32).
• His Holy Spirit convinces us of our unbelief, the need for His righteousness, and His judgment of our soul’s adversary (John 16:8-10).

It’s time for you to surrender to Jesus’ loving care and come home.