“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

It had been an unusually busy week for Pastor Kenward and his associate pastors. Sunday was approaching and the pastor really had to finish the messages for Sunday. Marie, his faithful secretary for many, many years said to him, “Pastor I will guard your time for you. You study and I will shield you from interruptions.” They both laughed as Pastor Kenward asked her, “And how do you propose to do this? Are you on armed patrol today?”

With that he stepped to his desk and got back into studying. About an hour later, Marie knocked at the door and stepped in. “Pastor, I am so sorry. There is a lady on the phone. She won’t give me her name. She says she has to speak to you and if you are too busy, she will never bother us again. I don’t like the desperation in her voice.”

Pastor Kenward immediately wanted the call put through. He could hear Marie on the phone as she said, “Now Honey, I don’t know you; but I want to tell you that our pastor is absolutely not too busy. He wants to talk with you. Please tell him everything. He will help you.”

With that the drama of hopelessness, despair, and bitterness, unfolded for over two hours. Over the months of counseling that would follow, Pastor Kenward came to discover that he was the last pastor on the list. Every other pastor that she randomly picked was too busy to speak with her that morning. If he had been too busy, she was going to take her life. Psalm 103:12 came to be the turning point for her as she came to understand what the Lord Jesus did for her on the cross and the empty tomb in order to make possible a personal relationship with Him. What a powerful and precious verse for us as well.

If the Psalmist had written that our sins had been removed as far as the north is from the south, we would know the location as it would be the equator. However! He said, As far as the east is from the west!” That is how far the Father’s removal plan extends for those who place their trust in His only provision of salvation. Do you know the Lord Jesus in a personal saving way? If not, would you please take an addition moment or two and click the banner “Heaven!” You can know the joy that comes from a personal relationship with Christ.