Never Too Far Gone

What’s the Bible about?

Photo by Antonio Janeski on Unsplash

If someone asked the question, “What’s the Bible about? “ there are multiple answers that would all be correct.

It tells the story of the history of the world from creation to the present.

It’s not really one book; it’s more like a library of 66 books bound together as one, and each book tells a story.

It’s about how God created mankind, who sinned and separated themselves from God, but then God sent his son to redeem them and restore the relationship.

All of these and many more would be valid answers, and I think that’s an interesting thing.

The story of the Bible has become an overarching theme in my life that I’ve begun to notice in some of the most unexpected places.

A Perilous Journey

I was remembering the other day an experience from over 10 years ago. I was an avid bike rider. I lived in an apartment complex in Des Plaines, IL, and I lived within biking distance of three lakes. When I would set off, I’d choose one, go there, spend some time, then head back home to the apartment. It was my main source of exercise and one of my favorite things to do. I had a job in downtown Chicago where I’d sit in an office for 8 or more hours a day, in an office with no windows, staring at a computer screen at a desk facing a wall. So on the weekends and on holidays, I made a point to get out and see nature.

One time, I decided to try to bike to the train station. This would be the longest route I’d ever biked. It was probably 20 miles round trip. Every day I’d catch the bus from the corner of my apartment, and it would take me to the Blue Line train station, and I’d catch the train to work. So I wanted to see if I could bike to the train, to see if it was possible, how tired I’d be, and if there was a place to lock up my bike if I decided to do that instead of taking the bus on the way to work. It would’ve been a built-in workout each day to work. But I didn’t want to be super musty and sweaty, so this was like an experiment or a dry run.

I set out on a weekend to bike this route. I was in the final stretch, about a mile from the train station, when the back tire of my bike blew out. Now this is where I’m reminded of my youth when I was young, brash, and reckless. I didn’t have a tire kit for the bike, no money, and no phone. I only had my keys, so I could get back into the apartment. I liked to travel light since I was biking, and I thought nothing would ever happen to me. Nothing had ever happened countless times before. Now here I was, 9 miles from home with a bike with a flat tire.

I came to the realization that my only course was to turn around and walk home with my bike. The spectre of this became terrifying because I’d never walked this far before, and certainly not while toting a bike. And also, there were parts of the route back where there was no sidewalk, and I’d have to walk alongside the road, next to traffic going upwards of 40-50 mph. I began to feel like I’d unnecessarily put my life in peril. Any of the cars barreling down the road could hit me intentionally or unintentionally. I’d be walking through neighborhoods of people unkind to black people. What if my legs cramped up, since I’d ridden 9 miles and then turned and was now walking 9 miles?

As I proceeded to walk, I felt this feeling of dread come over me. This was how I was going to die. There was no way around it. I was far away from friends, family, or anyone who would be willing to help me if needed. I was essentially on a death march, with no way out.

As I trudged along pushing my bike, a little less than midway through walking back, I heard this little quiet voice from within me say, “I didn’t bring you this far just to end your life here.” In the midst of this perilous situation in which I found myself, I realized I was not alone and that God was real. I had a glimmer of hope. At that moment, I realized that everything I learned and heard in church was not just a far-off story, but that it was true. God is real, and he’s really there with us. I felt like I wasn’t alone.

And so I kept going. My legs didn’t cramp up. I wasn’t harassed when I walked through the white neighborhoods. When I walked alongside the road, no one hit me, and in fact, I noticed the cars were giving me space to walk. I would come upon long stretches of road with very fast-moving traffic and no sidewalk, and this voice inside me told me the fast-moving traffic was governed by traffic lights. So the fast-moving traffic would come in bunches when they got a green light. When the light turned red, that’s when I should make my move down the road. When I saw or heard traffic approaching, get in the grass. And so that’s what I did. I kept doing that until I got back to the land of sidewalks, and I started seeing landmarks that I was close to my apartment. Eventually, I made it back home.

How Far is Too Far?

As I recalled this story, it brought me to tears as it was the scariest experience of my life. I thought I’d gone too far and put my life in danger. But God said not yet. I was not too far out of the way for God to reach me.

I’m reminded of the story of the Prodigal Son. It made me wonder when he realized he’d gone too far. Was it before or after eating with the pigs in a foreign land? What was the exact moment he thought to return to his father? The folly of youth is that feeling of invincibility, that you could run through a wall if you had to, that the world is there for you to explore it all, and throw caution to the wind. At a certain point, you find yourself far away from home, all spent out, and you realize you are not all self-sufficient. You realize you need some help and that you can’t do it all alone.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!

18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

Luke 15:17-18

We are never too far gone. There’s nothing God can’t rescue anyone from. His arm is not too short to reach a person wherever they may be. This would be my answer to the question of what the Bible is about. A criminal on the cross finds salvation at his zero hour. Saul, in the midst of killing Christians, finds, or is found by Christ. Nebuchadnezzar repents. King Ahab repents. King Manasseh repents. So many people in the Bible go so far afield, seemingly too far, but not too far that they are beyond redemption. Not everyone repents. Some do reach their fate before they ever repent. The option is there on the table for them to grab and pick up, but they just never do. That’s the key. It all comes down to choice. We all have it. We all have the chance to make it. Pride is often what gets in the way. It needs to be put aside.

We’re never too far gone.