“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” (2 Peter 2:20)
A backslider takes a tragic turn when he becomes accustomed to life without God. Behavior that was once shunned is relished. Things that were once unthinkable become commonplace. The old familiar confines of Egypt are back, and the worship of God is gone.
Is there anything more horrible than hardness of heart? A hard heart is calloused – it simply no longer cares. A backslider is on the road to reprobation when hardness of heart sets in. The pigsty is disgusting but it is rolled around in anyway. The vomit is putrid but it is eaten anyway. A hard heart has lost all its spiritual senses.
Beware of the slow, insidious slide away from God. Backsliding can only be cured when one does not want to live for a moment without the true presence of God in their life. To sin willfully is to crucify Jesus afresh; it is a willingness to sacrifice and lose sweet fellowship with Him for some fleeting pleasure of this world. We must begin to assess the cost of our actions, asking: “Is this worth it?”
David fell away. He lost the joy of his salvation. He cried out to God for mercy, cleansing, and the renewal of a right spirit. God heard his cry and restored his soul. If you have been slipping away, do the same – cry out to God for mercy and a restoration to the life in God that you once knew. God declares: “I will heal their backsliding” (Hosea 14:4); but He will need you to want out of a backslider’s hell. Repent of a hard heart that doesn’t care. He can restore to you a heart of flesh.