Topic: It’s Not Too Late To Turn Back – Daily Devotional by Proverbs 31 Ministries  26 November 2024

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It’s Not Too Late To Turn Back

November 26, 2024

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

“Wait — this can’t be right,” I said, looking at the unfamiliar landscape outside my car window. On my way to my son’s football game, I realized after 20 minutes of driving that I had missed a turn. It would take another 20 minutes to get to my destination.

I sighed in frustration. I was already running late, and my mistake had eaten up valuable time. I had a choice: Give up and go home, or take the time needed to get on the correct path. Honestly, I felt like giving up, but imagining my son’s disappointment when I didn’t show up motivated me to keep going.

The next morning, the Holy Spirit reminded me how my choice to head in the right direction paralleled a turn I had made recently in my spiritual life.

Just a few weeks prior, I had told God that I’d gone too far and that it would take too much work to get back to Him. In the aftermath of my divorce, I entered into an unhealthy relationship and made ungodly choices. When I longed to walk away from the relationship and get right with God again, my overwhelming shame and guilt made it seem impossible.

Immediately after voicing my fears to Him, I heard these words in a song: “Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter what you’ve done. You are never, you are never, never too far gone” (“Never Too Far Gone” by Jordan Feliz).

God assured me it wasn’t too late; I wasn’t too far gone. As Romans 8:1 says: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NIV). Similarly, 1 John 1:9 tells us: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

These verses point to two truths:

1. When believers in Jesus mess up, we aren’t condemned. Satan wants us to believe that we’re too bad for God to forgive, that God doesn’t want us back after we’ve sinned. Satan feeds us thoughts like, I can’t believe you did that. You call yourself a Christian? How could you make that mistake again? While God convicts us of sin and prompts us to repent, He doesn’t cast us away. When we sin, He pursues us, wooing us back to Himself.
2. God cleanses us of unrighteousness. God restores us by forgiving and cleansing us. When we turn to Him and confess our sins, He takes away our shame, our guilt, and the stain of our wrongdoing, making us whole again.

Maybe you’re caught in a trap of poor decisions. Maybe you went in a different direction than God told you to go. Maybe you feel weighed down by shame and condemnation.

You don’t have to continue on that path — you can go back, correcting your course. Don’t listen to the lie that you’ve gone too far or that God doesn’t want you because of what you’ve done. His grace and mercy are waiting for you — you only need to turn.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your work on the cross and Your forgiveness. Help me to come to You when I sin rather than run away in shame and guilt. I receive Your love and mercy today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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