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READ: PSALM 139:7-10, LUKE 15:1-7, 11-32\n\n\n\nMy dog Ellie likes a good run around the neighborhood. She likes to escape out the front door, even if it\u2019s only open a crack. She doesn\u2019t come back without a chase, she is NOT smart when it comes to the busy street we live on, and if there\u2019s a rabbit she\u2019s long gone! More often than not she comes home muddy. More than once she\u2019s come home injured and needing extra care.\n\n\n\nWhen I catch up with Ellie and call for her to come, she wags her tail, and then she\u2019s off again. Other times she looks at me with wild, laughing eyes as if to say, \u201cCome home? Not happening!\u201d 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.\n\n\n\nIt took a few years of this for me to realize how like my dog I am. I\u2019m 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\u2019t come back without a chase, I am NOT smart when it comes to the lure and lies of the devil, and if there\u2019s 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\u2019s protection.\n\n\n\nI think about how I never leave Ellie to run the neighborhood alone. I\u2019m always as close as she\u2019ll let me get, hoping to snatch her up out of harm\u2019s way. Jesus is the same way with me. There I am getting into more and more trouble, and there He is\u2014calling, shadowing, and snatching me up out of harm\u2019s 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.\n\n\n\nWe all go through doors we shouldn\u2019t and find ourselves out from under the protective wing of our loving Father. Don\u2019t let the lies of the enemy keep you from going back to where you\u2019re well-loved. Jesus is always waiting, and often closer than we think. \u2022 Abbi Bloem\n\n\n\n\u2022 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\u2019ve 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\u2019s analogy give us hope to turn to Jesus, even when we\u2019ve really messed up?\n\n\n\nWhere can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7 (NIV)