“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” – 2 Pet. 3:17
The NT speaks much about growing and abounding, which are essential to our welfare. The best definition of backsliding that I know of is this – “when a child of God ceases to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” ( 2 Pet. 3:18). The Christian life is a lot like riding a bike, you have to keep going or you will fall over – you can’t standstill.
In a message by David Dykes he reminds us of Paul Harvey’s talk about “a retired couple who purchased a large motor home several years ago. Back then one of the great features was cruise control. As they were traveling up the West Coast, the husband became tired and asked his wife to drive while he went in the back to take a nap. As she was driving she put the camper on cruise control and it worked perfectly. After a few minutes of straight highway driving she got up to get a drink. Of course, the motor home ran off the road and crashed into a ditch. Fortunately, neither of the passengers was injured. After the accident, the wife told the highway patrol she thought cruise control would keep the RV on the road! She never made that mistake again. Sadly, many Christians have put their spiritual lives on cruise control; they aren’t really actively paying attention to worship, Bible study, and prayer. No wonder so many of them wind up in the ditch spiritually.”
Sadly there are a lot of folks like those in the church at Ephesus who had left their first love ( Rev. 2:1-7), or like the Laodiceas who were lukewarm (Rev. 3:14-18). May God help us to be always growing, abounding in love, and on fire for God. – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
