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How to Keep from Backsliding

 

Psalm 26:1 - Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore, I shall not slide. 

In verse one we meet “trust and obey” again! “I have walked in mine integrity” (that’s obedience); “I have trusted also in the Lord” (that’s faith). And what is the happy result? “Therefore, I shall not slide.”

When a Christian gradually gets away from the Lord, and sin comes into their life, this condition is called backsliding. It is not “dropping back,” because it does not happen suddenly. It is a gradual thing, a sliding back instead of moving forward in the things of the Lord. And when it happens, you may point to one of two causes: disobedience or lack of faith. And one leads to the other.

Faith in the Lord and faithfulness to the Lord will always keep the saint from backsliding. “My foot standeth in an even place,” David announces in verse 12 of Psalm 26. You cannot slide back on level ground!

As you read the entire Psalm 26, notice how David opens up his entire being to the Lord: “my reins…my heart…mine eyes…mine hands…my soul…my life…my foot. This wonderful openness with the Lord is essential to a faithful walk. Examine me! Prove me! Search me!

Too many Christians are living on a religious rollercoaster – up one day, down the next. The secret of a level walk is “trust and obey.” This is God’s sure protection against backsliding.

From – “Thoughts for Men on the Move” by Warren Wiersbe