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“Be not led astray, my brethren beloved;”  James 1:16 (YLT)

One just doesn’t end up in a mess overnight.  Backsliding is a subtle thing.  One gradually stops reading the Bible, stops praying, and then starts giving into sin. Their heart becomes hardened towards God; they can no longer hear His still small voice.  Filled with guilt, their joy and peace evaporates.  They stop attending church periodically until one day they just stop going altogether.    When they see someone who loves God, they want to run the other way because it reminds them of where they were and should be with God.

Hebrews 2:1 tells us “Take heed lest we DRIFT away.” A decaying farm house often changes so slowly that the farmer is unaware of the change until it is beyond repair.  Soil corrosion may be so gradual that the farmer is unconscious of the threat to his field until the wroth of his land is permanently destroyed.  Sometimes one can end up in disaster and not know how they got there.  No current may be detected on the surface, but the undertow can cause a drift that can take us away from God.  Subtle influences, pressures of worldly affairs, are things that can cause us to drift off course from God’s ways and teachings.  

We must catch all the signs of going astray and return to God.   God loves us so much that He addresses us as His beloved (my brethren beloved).  It grieves Him to see us go astray, and He is always waiting for us with arms wide open ready for us to repent.  

“Lord, I choose to draw close to You so You can draw close to me.” 

 For His Glory

 Linda Reyes Shepherd
TRBC Mountain Blend