You Never Plan to Fall

Awhile back, I’d taken up racquetball again. I hate treadmills and cardio, but I will run endlessly around in circles to chase a silly little ball with a racket.

One time, I was running to get a shot, and somehow, I pivoted and landed flat on my back. Some guy who was on a treadmill stopped and said, “Are you okay?” I was okay, but I had to take some Tylenol afterward.

The thing was, I wasn’t planning on falling. And a lot of times that happens to us spiritually. People fall, and they weren’t planning on it. But maybe they were setting themselves up for a fall.

I think when a person falls away spiritually, it’s because there’s neglect in their spiritual life. Because they’re failing to move forward, they naturally (but not immediately) start going backward.

Then one day they wake up and say, “How did I end up in this state? How did I end up in this place I’m in? I don’t remember when this happened.” That’s because it happened gradually.

The Bible warns about backsliding in Jeremiah 2:19: “‘Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,’ says the Lord God of hosts” (NKJV).

Then, in Jeremiah 3:22, God says, “Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings” (NKJV).

We need to be on guard against this, because the Bible says that one of the signs of the last days will be people falling away from the faith. We want to be very careful that we don’t become those people. And if you’re not moving forward, then you’re automatically going backward.