Jeremiah 2:13
“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

Jeremiah 3:12
“Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep mine anger forever.”

God put the Red Sea between the Egyptians and the children of Israel so they would not find their way back to Egypt, even if their souls desired to return.

There was a time when they chose leaders for themselves who could take them back, but returning was impossible unless they were willing to be drawn back into the Red Sea.

God knows that when you are passing through the wilderness of life, you may sometimes think about your past and wish you were there instead of where you are now.

But in God’s order, old things have passed away when you become a new creature. He makes all things new and continually moves you forward until you reach your destination.

God has brought you out of the Egypt of life, the life of sin and bondage to the power of darkness, the life of slavery to Satan, the world, and sin. He redeemed you and passed you through water baptism as a declaration of your allegiance to the kingdom of God, separating you from your former life and welcoming you into His kingdom.

Therefore, nothing should make us forget what the Lord has done, and nothing should be allowed to come between us and the love of God.

Most Christians who backslide do not usually think they are backsliding. They believe they are coming out of the bondage of religion and into their own freedom. In reality, they have simply placed their will above the will of God. Instead of submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ by following His Word, they submit to the power of the flesh and choose their own will and ways.

A church that backslides may also think it is moving according to the will of the people rather than the will of God. They want to be accepted among those from whom God has commanded His people to separate themselves. They want to be known and accepted when God has already placed the cross between His children and the world.

They no longer want to stand alone. They remove the cross so they can mingle with the world, thereby choosing another god to reign and rule over them.

This is what Israel did, which qualified them as a backsliding nation. They followed the gods of the Gentiles and forsook their own God, who had delivered them from slavery.

This is also what the church is doing today: seeking to become acceptable to the world while forgetting the God who died to set them free from the shackles of that same world.

Jesus told the church of Laodicea that they were neither cold nor hot. He also told the church of Ephesus that they had lost their first love. It is this first love for God that backsliders lose, and this loss places them in a dangerous spiritual condition.

When your love for God begins to grow cold, your faithfulness to Him will also decrease. Your passion for Him and His Word will diminish.

You do not have to stop going to church before you backslide. Backsliding can begin when you start questioning the Word of God and placing your own opinions and the words of others above it.

There are many backsliders in the church of God. They still pay tithes, attend church services, and participate in church activities, but their hearts are already far from Him.

They have returned to their vomit like dogs. They have gone back to the things they abandoned at conversion. A church that has turned away from holiness and started preaching worldliness has backslid, even if it refuses to admit it. That is the truth.

A church where women once covered their heads while praying but now leave their heads uncovered in prayer without seeing anything wrong with it is moving in the direction of backsliding. If nothing is done to correct the abnormality, it can progress further into apostasy.

Someone who once detested having a television in his house but has now gone back and placed one in his sitting room is gradually backsliding. Whatever you once detested at conversion that you are now embracing is a sign that you are moving away from your former position.

God can never change. His standard remains the same. It is human beings who have changed.

When you backslide, you exchange the fountain of living water for a broken cistern. You abandon the God of the Bible and embrace the gods of the world.

Many backsliders who believe they are still in the race may not realise their condition until they reach the end, by which time they will be cast away from the presence of God.

Some churches started well but eventually ended up in the camp of the devil because they embraced the rich among them and abandoned the poor with whom they started.

There are ways a person can backslide without knowing it. If you once hated wearing Jezebel attire but now it has become what you cherish most in your dressing, you have moved from the true way toward the way of the world. You are backsliding.

Changing your beliefs about God and Jesus Christ to conform to what the world has made Him to be is also backsliding. The Bible says that if a man or an angel brings another gospel apart from what the apostles preached, he should be accursed.

The devil will not always come with a horrible appearance because he knows Christians will recognise his schemes. Instead, he can come subtly as an angel of light, seeking to alter the Word of God to suit his own mission of stealing, killing, and destroying.

If you are a backslider, it means you have turned back from the covenant you entered into at the waters of baptism and renounced your allegiance to Him. You have returned to your vomit and gone back to the very things from which God delivered you.

It is only those who are accurate with the Word of God who will recognise the enemy’s schemes and rebuke him.

What many backsliders do not understand is that the moment they change their allegiance to God, they begin to embrace a different god and a different Jesus, different from the One who died for them. They turn to another god whose ultimate purpose is the destruction of their souls.

The way of backsliders seems interesting to them; they think they have started living their lives fully, not knowing that they are losing it. They think they are seeing the reality of life, not knowing they are already blinded to the truth, which is supposed to set them free.

Return, O backslider!

The God you left has not changed. His mercy is still calling you. His Word is still reaching you. His invitation remains the same:

“Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD.”

There is still a call to return. There is still a way back. Do not continue in the direction that is taking you away from God. Return to the fountain of living waters. Return to holiness. Return to obedience. Return to the God who saved you.

Prayer: Father lord, do not forsake me in this world; uphold me with your right hand of power, in Jesus name, amen.