How Backsliding Begins

Almost everything good that we set out to do involves sustained effort over time. It begins as a good idea, but eventually the temptation to take your foot off the pedal, to slow down, to pull over, cuts in. And so … the backsliding begins. Entropy is a principal of physics that basically says that in any system order turns to chaos, organisation to disorganisation, ultimately leading to breakdown and decay. Think of an egg. You break it into a bowl and it's ordered – a yolk surrounded by the egg white. But scramble it with a fork and it becomes disorganised. You simply can't unscramble the egg. The only thing that brings order is life. How is an egg made? By a living chicken. In fact, life is the only thing that builds order out of chaos. The same is true with our good intentions. They need life to birth them, to sustain them and to help them grow. And that's where God – the Author of life – comes in. Writes the Apostle Peter: 1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (ESV) When our good intentions start to fail, when we begin to backslide (as we all do) what we need is that pure spiritual milk – the Word of God – that by it we may grow up into our salvation. Charles Spurgeon once said that backsliding begins with a dusty Bible. I couldn't agree more. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.