TUESDAY September 24, 2019
Are You Backslidden?
And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish.
1 Samuel 27:8-9
While living in exile among the Philistines, David raided the vulnerable Bedouin people who dwelt in the land. He stole their cattle and killed innocent men, women and children. David was a man of blood; he murdered people. His actions were carnal––unrighteous. There was no way David could be justified for what he had done. David was to be the next King of Israel, but for a time, he remained backslidden and not in the perfect will of God.
If we walk according to our own flesh, we can become guilty of doing carnal, senseless things. Failure to walk with God can cause everything in your life to go down the tubes. Some Christians can look back at these seasons in their lives and say, “What was I thinking?” They have wasted valuable time outside of God’s perfect will.
Understand, backsliding does not happen overnight; it is often a gradual slipping away. It might be you are pulled away from church on Sunday to stay home and relax, go to Sunday baseball games, or even go fishing.
Before you know it, you have stopped going to church completely. What has happened to your devotional time with the Lord? Is your Bible collecting dust on a shelf?
Are you backslidden? If you are no longer walking in a close relationship with God, then your priorities are not right. God desires that you be upfront with Him; He wants you to be by His side. Repent and return to the Lord.
You can blame circumstances, but backsliding always begins in the heart.
~A.W. Tozer~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit Somebodylovesyouradio.org!