Walking Away

 

Imagine with me if you adopted a child. Several things would be involved in your decision from the get-go:

1. Your undying love for a child that didn't know you

2. You CHOSE the child because in your eyes they were special

3. Your intentions were to give the child the best life by directing his or her decisions based on your own knowledge about life

4. Your commitment to supply every need of the child according to all you have

5. Your absolute promise to clothe, feed and shelter the child under your care

6. Your promise to provide the child's emotional, mental, and physical health

7. Your pledge to die, if necessary, to save your child if ever in harm's way

So you adopt the child and throughout each year, you've made available every promise listed above. When the child is old enough to move out on their own you hear less and less from them. Phone calls are few and visits are rare. You realize they are losing interest in the relationship you had with them. Drifting from your love they call only when needing money or a favor. Your own child has become estranged! If you continually pursue them, it seems to serve to make it impossible for them to have a quality relationship with you. They may feel smothered, obligated, or even embarrassed to love you. Eventually, they resent you. What a tragedy!

The above scenario is no different than what many Christians do to their Father, God. In the beginning, we profess our love and are overjoyed to spend time with Him. We revel in all his promises and experience His undeserved blessings. When dwelling with Him our lives are a reflection of Psalm 91, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. He will rescue me from every trap and protect me from deadly diseases. He will cover me with his feathers. He will shelter me with his wings. His faithful promises are my armor and protection." As believer's God's promises are our armor against the world. Under His wing, we have protection UNLESS we walk out and away from underneath His protective wing. You see, God never leaves us, we walk away from Him.  If you look around you, many people are "Christianized," but not truly transformed (Matthew 7:21). God gave stern warnings to those who did not want to follow the Savior any longer. Notice the wording ANY LONGER? It is true that Christians are saved by grace, “for by grace you are saved” (Ephesians 2:8-9) however, we seem to overlook the verse (and meaning of) “you must hold fast to your confession of faith without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23). Paul, the author of Hebrews, brings stern warnings regarding the danger of choosing sin while walking away from Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Consider these verses:

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" – Hebrews 10:26

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" – Hebrews 10:31

"But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls" – Hebrews 10:38-39. 

I receive so many messages in my spirit to be exclusively directed to Christians that are lazy, slipping, or whose love for God has grown cold. This is yet another one. Insulting the Spirit of grace, who is trying to draw you back, but you do not care and refuse to walk away from your sin, is to trample underfoot the grace of God that can save you from the consequences of your stubbornness. You and I are tempted to sin every day. We are under pressure while suffering the ebb and flow of victory and defeat throughout our lives. I'm often tempted with thoughts of my former life that randomly invade my mind seemingly out of nowhere. We constantly fight thoughts, wishes, temptations, desires, lusts, you name it. That is the flesh warring against the spirit. Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want." No one, I repeat, NO ONE is exempt from the temptations to commit sin, whether from our hearts or from the world in which we live. To be tempted is not a sin, for even Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4:1-11 (Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil) BUT HE DID NOT GIVE INTO TEMPTATION. That's the difference. You can be tempted, and you will be, you must resist.

So today I ask you, have you lost interest in your first love, Jesus Christ? Do you call on Him to talk or revel in His presence and not only when you need or want something? Have the interests, cares, or troubles of life began to mount to such a degree that you decided to walk away from Christ? Do you secretly feel obligated to pray, constrained to talk to God, or embarrassed to admit you love Jesus? Have you walked away? Why is it so hard to take time to converse with God, motivate yourself to read His Word, or to fellowship with other Christians? Is the devil tempting you to fall back into the world and deliberately engage in sin you know God would not be pleased with? Please come back. I may say some of the sternest and most direct things you can say to a person, but please don't feel talked down to or verbally assaulted. Paul loved people enough to warn them about the possibilities of their actions, and so am I. He was like a father to them. Any good father would warn a son or daughter about the dangers in our world and the consequences of choosing those risks (Luke 11:11). May we all be warned. May we all respond by graciously seeking to change ourselves if indeed we have slipped away from our heavenly Father.

Until He comes,

-Pat-