I will run to you.

I have a baby nephew. He's now 2 years old, and when he started walking, we had a favourite game.

I would kneel down and open my arms to him, and he would back away further and further. Then, all of a sudden, he would run shouting and laughing and launch himself into my arms. I loved being able to sweep him up and carry him around and show him he was loved.

He would run to me again and again and each time was just as exciting and beautiful as the last - I never got tired of him coming back to me.

Every time I come running back to God, I feel as though the number of chances he will offer me when I screw up are limited - as though they will one day run out. But he reminded me of this game, and actually this is how he feels about us.

When we understand love, we understand human love. It's difficult to think of it as something infinitely huge and more powerful than that. Yet if I never got tired of sweeping my nephew up in love, can you imagine how much more our Father is calling us into his arms?

He will never say 'enough now. I don't have anymore love to give you.' He is always calling us back to himself, always asking us to come closer. When we run back to him, ashamed and broken, he will always sweep us up in his love. We only have to look at the example of the prodigal son to see that this is true.

Luke 15:20
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."