READ: PSALM 139:7-10, LUKE 15:1-7, 11-32

My dog Ellie likes a good run around the neighborhood. She likes to escape out the front door, even if it’s only open a crack. She doesn’t come back without a chase, she is NOT smart when it comes to the busy street we live on, and if there’s a rabbit she’s long gone! More often than not she comes home muddy. More than once she’s come home injured and needing extra care.

When I catch up with Ellie and call for her to come, she wags her tail, and then she’s off again. Other times she looks at me with wild, laughing eyes as if to say, “Come home? Not happening!” These times she goes a little farther, gets a little closer to the cars, or visits the unfriendly dog down the street. And there I am, calling, shadowing, hoping to get close, and always waiting for her to come back. By the time she does, Ellie is usually extra thankful to be back under my protection, and usually she regrets running out the door in the first place.

It took a few years of this for me to realize how like my dog I am. I’m a runner. If that door gets opened even just a crack, there I go, away toward whatever sin looks interesting at that moment. I don’t come back without a chase, I am NOT smart when it comes to the lure and lies of the devil, and if there’s a rabbit trail to follow, I go! More often than not, I get covered in the muck and mud that comes along with sin, and sometimes I get injured by my choices and need extra care. Always, always I am sorry and so thankful to be back under Jesus’s protection.

I think about how I never leave Ellie to run the neighborhood alone. I’m always as close as she’ll let me get, hoping to snatch her up out of harm’s way. Jesus is the same way with me. There I am getting into more and more trouble, and there He is—calling, shadowing, and snatching me up out of harm’s way. And eventually, when I realize I need to be back under His wing of protection, Jesus is right there, ready to care for my hurts and help me follow Him again.

We all go through doors we shouldn’t and find ourselves out from under the protective wing of our loving Father. Don’t let the lies of the enemy keep you from going back to where you’re well-loved. Jesus is always waiting, and often closer than we think. • Abbi Bloem

• As Christians, we know Jesus is always as close as can be (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:35-39). Yet, there may be times when we feel distant from Jesus because we’ve been stubbornly going our own way. But because He loves us, He wants to help us turn away from sin and back to Him. How could today’s analogy give us hope to turn to Jesus, even when we’ve really messed up?

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7 (NIV)