Jeremiah 14:7
O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
Backsliding is a choice, not a mistake. Israel did not mistakenly backslide, and neither does the believer backslide by mistake. A mistake is accidentally dropping something and breaking it, but backsliding is the choice of an individual to gradually pull away from God. Imagine how evil it is to backslide by choosing to slide away from the God that saved your soul from Hell. Many look at backsliding carelessly, but God takes it as a rejection of Him. The book of Jeremiah, shows several backsliding choices that believers often do today. Let me point out these backsliding choices.
First, refusing to hear is a backsliding choice. Jeremiah 13:11 says, For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. Many believers refuse to hear the preaching. The word hear is talking about not doing what they hear preached. You can refuse to listen to God’s Word preached, but the result is always backsliding.
Second, loving to wander is a backsliding choice. Jeremiah 14:10 says, Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander,… To wander is to look in the world instead of staying in God’s Word. We don't need to see what the world offers because you wander from God the moment you choose to see what the world has to offer.
Third, choosing bad directions is backsliding. Jeremiah 14:10 continues to say, they have not refrained their feet. Your direction does matter to your walk with God. To refrain yourself from following the LORD is to choose to follow someone else. Many believers have said they will not do something, and that proclamation is to choose to backslide.
Fourth, forsaking God is a backsliding choice. Jeremiah 15:6 says, Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD,… Imagine abandoning God when He has never abandoned you. What a sad day that many believers have abandoned God for worldly ways and lifestyles. Many have abandoned God’s Sunday night and Wednesday night services for their own desires. Choosing to forsake what God tells you to do is to abandon God, which never goes well for the person who casts God to the side for something or someone else.
Fifth, not living by faith is a backsliding choice. Jeremiah 15:6 continues to say, Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward… Backward is a faithless action. Any person choosing not to live by faith is choosing to backslide. Always remember that God’s direction is a forward direction, which means not to live by faith is choosing to backslide.
Sixth, doing what you feel is right is to backslide. Jeremiah 16:12 says, …ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart… Your heart is evil, and to do what you feel is right is to backslide. We are not to do what we feel is right; we are to do what God’s Word tells us is right.
Are you backsliding? You can push God away so many times before His spirit will not strive with your actions. The best action to take when you backslide is to turn to God and do right. Just as backsliding is a choice, so doing right is a choice as well. Choose to do right; you will never regret it.
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