Dear Failure, You Paid the Fare, but He Paid the Price

Letters to a Weary Pilgrim

[When I first began this blog, I wrote a mini series of articles called “Dear Failure: Letters to a Weary Pilgrim.” I thought it was done. But I still contribute to it. These letters are written to my own soul, and I pray they bless you. Find the first one here.]

Dear Failure,

In times past, I have “paid the fare” because of sin. You have too.

In the moment of temptation, the costliness of sin can completely evade our memory. Thankfully, there is eternal hope for the backslider.

A Man Who Paid the Fare

Once there was a man named Jonah who was called to preach to God’s enemies, and Jonah sinfully ran to Tarshish. The opening chapter of Jonah emphasizes many shocking things. One thing that should shock the reader is that Jonah paid a price for his rebellion—he “paid the fare” (Jonah 1:3).

Of course, sinful straying shouldn’t shock us. We know we are inherently sinful beings; we are “prone to wander.”

But is it not shocking that, to sin against God, Jonah worshiped convenience, then immediately inconvenienced himself in the area of his money? He didn’t pay the cost of following God, but paid the cost of following his own desires.

Our Costly Straying

Just know that when you make your journey into sin, you also pay the fare. We can be nonchalant toward the things of God. After all, the cost of discipleship seems pretty high. But oh, we jump through hoops to sin, don’t we? I know I have.

Some believers sit in church, put on a smile, say “churchy” things, but their heart is pounding because they know that when they leave, they are going to take the road of sin.

They may entertain that email chain or text thread, which is cultivating a sinful, adulterous relationship, costing them their family.

As a student, they may cheat on that test or project and deceive others, costing them their integrity.

They may disregard the body of Christ and neglect the calling on the church to make disciples, costing them a life that counts for the glory of God.

They may give up on prayer and become prayerless, costing them communion with God.

Don’t forget, when pursuing sin, we are paying the fare.

This is the shock of sin: not that we commit it, but that we’re so willing to sacrifice for it.

As the Puritan John Owen said, “Sin dethrones reason.”

Translation?

Sin makes us stupid.

The text says, Jonah went “down to Joppa,” “down” to the ship, and “down into the inner part of the ship.” Every step towards sin is always one more step away from God—it’s always a step “down” in life. And by the time we realize the price we paid, it’s already too late.

The Remedy

But if we have paid the fare, what is the remedy? What we may have missed is, like the lost son in the prodigal son story, this prodigal prophet was brought to his senses even before the ordeal with the “great fish.” It’s because God, by His discipline, lifted Jonah’s eyes to see the magnitude of His mercy.

When the storm and the sailors woke him up, God showed Jonah his own misery and how he must be absolutely dependent upon his Creator. Jonah deserved to die in the storm. Instead, Jonah learned of the merciful presence of God even when he thought he outran it. He learned by experience what he only knew intellectually: “Where can I go from your presence? Where can I flee from your Spirit? If I fall to the depths of the sea, even there your hand will lead me…” (Psalm 139:7-10)

For us, we especially know this because of Christ. Because God’s holiness is enormous and his purity infinite, He requires total perfection to enjoy His presence. But we have not been faithful to our Lord. We have not loved Him totally as required. And any sinner who unrepentantly runs down the path of sin will reach a door, beyond which is the pit of eternal suffering away from God’s presence.

Therefore, God Himself pursued us by taking on flesh. He was faithful to the mission and was cast out of His Father’s favorable presence on the cross, so that by His providence, we can be brought safely back in.

The story of mercy unfolds this way for everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ for eternal life: We pay the fare and try to undo it, but our hard work will never cut it. We try jettisoning the cargo, we try steering the boat through storms, to no avail. And yet, in our spiritual bankruptcy, we forget that God loved us with an everlasting love and paid the highest price to reconcile us to the Father. Even as Christians, when things fall apart, God restores them again. We find ourselves broken; God puts us back together again. We find ourselves dirty; God cleanses us yet again. We run from Him, so He runs after us.

Maybe all of the painful consequences won’t be taken away, but take heart, dear believer, who is a failure just like me, God will never be unfaithful to His own, no matter how many times we’ve been unfaithful to Him. Spiritually speaking, He’ll restore our hearts, our character, and our capacity to bear fruit for His glory as we take the off-ramp of repentance.

Jesus was the true prophet, the greater-than-Jonah, Who fulfilled His Father’s mission. Why? To restore us into the Father's care so that we’ll grow to delight in His presence instead of fleeing from it. So, repent. Come back to Him. Watch Him receive you as before.

Thankfully, He pursues us because the sinners He paid for are forever His possession.

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