READ: MARK 2:13-17; JOHN 6:37

It’s common sense that showers are for the dirty, hospitals are for the sick, and life preservers are for the drowning. So why is it so hard for some of us to accept that we don’t have to fix up our lives before coming to the very One who promises to clean us, heal us, and save us?

We may resist coming to God for help because we think we’re too far gone. We are correct in seeing that our sin separates us from a Holy God; we were all once totally lost in spiritual darkness (Ephesians 2:1-10).

But God didn’t leave us there! Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead paid for all of our sins and made the way for us to be with Him forever (Colossians 1:12-14). If we think we’ve sinned too much to be forgiven, we are severely underestimating the power of God’s grace and perhaps even missing the point of the gospel.

Sometimes those of us who know we’re forgiven still struggle to come to God because we feel like we’ve wandered too far. We think that since we’ve been straying into different sins, or haven’t been keeping up with our devotions, or haven’t been praying enough…that God doesn’t want anything to do with us. But God always wants us to draw near to Him!

I think it makes God sad when His children try to live apart from Him. He has called us to live in pursuit of Him, and once we have been redeemed by Christ, we can do so with the Holy Spirit’s help. But God’s love doesn’t require our obedience in order to reach us (Romans 5:8). God’s love has no strings attached.

Whether you’ve never asked God for forgiveness before, or you’ve recently wandered, don’t wait to come to Him. There is true forgiveness for all of us in Christ’s work on the cross, and Christ promises to never cast you out (John 6:37). • Katherine Billingsley

• Have you ever felt too far gone? If you know Jesus, all your sins are forgiven—past, present, and future. When God looks at you, He sees His Son’s perfect righteousness. And He loves you more than you could ever imagine. You can come to Him in prayer anytime, asking Him to help you draw near to Him once again. If you’ve never come to Jesus, find out more on our “Know Jesus” page.

• In John 6:37, Jesus promises that He will never cast out those who come to Him. How can this truth comfort us when we have doubts about our salvation?

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17 (CSB)