Backsliding

 

What constitutes backsliding? The term is well known in Church circles. Typically it means going back to a sin you once practiced or sliding back to the person you once were prior to becoming a Christian. Backsliding also means to go back on the new position you have take in your faith.

So what becomes of backsliders? Are they the lukewarm who Jesus says he never knew? Back sliding does not remove the love of God. As Romans 8 clearly illustrates, "nothing can separate you from the love of God." (Romans 8:31-39). However, to back slide can mean losing the ground you have taken in the Lord. For those who have conquered in Christ addictions and vices, going back means to fall into the despondency and the detrimental nature you once abandoned. Jesus does not leave you, but it might feel that He is distant. The reason for feeling separated is that you have violated your conscience which is the Holy Spirit and decided to do what your flesh desires instead.

The effect of back sliding is to slide further and further into the old nature you have died to. In plainer language embracing one sin will beget doing other sins and wickedness. As people we are responders and when we slide back into our old sinful nature, we end up drifting deeper into the sea of sin until it eventually is all that permeates from us.

Make no mistake, back sliding is easy. We back slide when God has revealed to us something we need to change or do and after doing well we decide to abandon the refining fire or revelation and go back to the old shell of our sin. We backslide when the Lord leads us to greater maturity in our faith and we decide to forsake this growing up for when we were ignorant babes. Now, the Lord is not surprised when we do this; He knows how frail we are and that many motivations: our flesh, demons, and peer pressure convince us to back slide. Sometimes it is exhaustion and despair that compels us to slide back , other times outright rebellion and defiance towards God. None of this suprises our Savior. In the end God gets his way, but you may be erased from being part of it.

We all have calling. A profound purpose in this life. It is God ordained and meant for only us. We can embrace that calling and choose to honor Christ with it, or we can abandon it. If we choose to forsake why we were put on Earth, God will not leave us and He will not stop loving us. But heartache will hold us captive and when we go to heaven we shall have great pangs in the presence of Christ because I believe He will show us what that calling could have done; the people we could have effected for Him, the joys we ran away from, the blessing we threw away, the spiritual growth we would have undergone, and the sense of purpose it would have given us.

Backsliding is a sinister force. It can be tapped into with ease and it can cripple us for the remainder of our life if we let it. Everyone who back slides knows they are doing it. The questions is will you choose to rise again and do what the Lord called you to do or will you continue to follow this black ice to the end of a broken life? Beware of the black slush that makes saints slide into Satan's plan to make them inpotent. The desire to give up is strong and ever present in this day and age. The question, is will you slide further and further into the abyss or rise again to do the will of the Almighty?

Those who have backslided have a chance to turn back to believing. You can fulfill your calling in Christ and be what you were created to be! But first you most break free of the blackness, the shadows of slavery that seek to sink you. Confess to the Lord your rebellion, your anarchy and your sinfulness. Ask Jesus to let you see again after trying to blind yourself to the truth. Ask the King of the Universe to restore you and make you whole. Our Savior said, "You can ask for anything in my name and I will do it, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." (John 14:13).

None of us are beyond hope. Our Savior is the God of Second and Seven Million more chances. As long as you draw breath you have chance to break free of backsliding and become the believer and bold purpose driven person you were meant to be! Break free today and let the Lord lead you again to that place of transfiguration and transformation. Do not resist this time and instead reach the goals that God placed in your heart and use the gifts he wove in you before the foundation of the world! Above all make Jesus Christ your focus and he will lead you to fruitful and abundant life that will surpass anything you could have dreamt up. I will not say it will be without suffering, growing and doing the right thing will bring persecution upon you. But such hardships are worth it when you finish the race and can say, "I have done all that I sat out to do, I am ready to come home Lord."