Now, That's Far!

“As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God's love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 103:11-12

I'm slightly claustrophobic. I don't like to feel closed into small spaces. I prefer wide open spaces where I can see forever.

It was a bit of adjustment when we first moved from West Texas to South Carolina. In West Texas there is nothing to obstruct your view in any direction; it's about as flat as flat can be. But in South Carolina they have something called trees. Pine trees and oak trees. Tall ones. Don't get me wrong—the trees are beautiful. But sometimes as I'm driving along a road lined with pine forests on either side, I wish for a more wide-open view.

Maybe that's one reason I love it when our family travels to Colorado for vacation. When you get to the top of a mountain, you can look around and see forever in all directions, or so it seems.

We love to drive on Trail Ridge Road near Estes Park. Trail Ridge Road is a 48-mile section of US Hwy 34 in Rocky Mountain National Park. With more than eight miles of the road above 11,000 feet, and its maximum elevation at 12,183 feet above sea level, it is the highest continuously paved motorway in the United States. When you reach the visitor center at the top of the road, you can park your car and climb about 200 more feet, and you will get this view:

Pretty impressive, right? Off to the far right is Wyoming, I'm pretty sure. Way off in the distance.

When I am up on top of a mountain and can look all around me and see nothing but blue sky and the things below, it leaves me breathless. Maybe it's because of the lack of oxygen at that altitude.

Or maybe because it's an awesome sight.

Anyway, it also reminds me of two things: I can look way way way way way high into the sky, and even as far as I can see, God's love for me is even greater than that. And as far as I can look either to my left or my right (or in front of me or behind me, for that matter) – God takes my sin even farther away than that.

Now, I know some of you reading this don't have easy access to the mountains. So, if you live near where I live in South Carolina, here's what you can do. On a sunny day, go to the beach. Look up into the sky (but don't look at the sun—that will blind you); way past all that blue sky, that's how much God loves you. Now, look out at the ocean. Since you're in South Carolina, you are looking east. See that spot where the ocean meets the sky? Not even close to how far God has removed your sin from you.

I'm so glad that our God loves us so much, that God does for us what we cannot do on our own—God takes away our sin. Really, really, really takes away our sin.

We should do something to show our gratitude. Maybe we should take our lead from God, and just as God forgives us, so should we strive to forgive others.

Pay it forward, kind of.

I know, forgiving others can be hard. But at least try it, won't you?