One Step Away from Failure

“Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” (Psalm 31:23-24 NIV).

“Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him, But he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone. Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.” (Psalm 31:23-24 MSG).

Strange that saints would have to be reminded to love the Lord isn’t it? Jeremiah reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV). That is the heart that beats in everyone of Adam’s fallen race. It beats in my breast and it beats in yours. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23 NKJV).

Every so often someone will come into my office devastated. They’ll sob, “I try so hard, but I just can’t do it! I’m unworthy of God’s forgiveness.” To which I’ll respond. “That’s right.” The shock is immediate (as it may have been for some of you who read those words). Then I’ll explain, “We are all unworthy, that’s why we need Christ and that’s why it’s called grace (unmerited favor). We’re all in that boat! I use to try to argue with the devil when he would fill my mind with such thoughts. I never won. Now, the minute that thought enters my mind, I simply say, ‘Yes, that’s right. That’s why I need Christ.’ And I promise you, that battle is over.”

All of that to remind those of us who are believers never to forget that we are who we are not because of who we are but because of who He is and what He did! Everyone of us is one step away from spiritual failure, that is why we have to be reminded over and over again to love the Lord. I make my living proclaiming His grace and glory, yet even I have to be reminded daily that I need to love the Lord personally; I need to love Him just as much in private as I do in public. That is a battle all believers face, and the minute we forget that, we are doomed for spiritual disaster. The minute we think we are something is the minute of our spiritual demise! “God takes care of all who stay close to him, But he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone.”