Jeremiah 3:12 (KJV) Says, "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return thou backsliding Israel saith the Lord; and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever." Jeremiah 3:22 (KJV) Says, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God." I John 1:9 (KJV) Says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The word backsliding literally means "turning back" or "turning away" and is used to describe those who turn away from God. As we see in the above passage of scripture God gave Israel a warning to return to him, and tells them if they do so, he will not cause his anger to fall upon them. He tells them that he is merciful and that he doesn't remain angry forever. He tells us in Jeremiah 3:22 (KJV) that he will heal our backslidings, if we will return to him. I John 1:9 (KJV) tells us that if we will confess our sins that God is faithful and just to forgive us, and that he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I have experienced firsthand how merciful and forgiving God can be, and I am so grateful to have the privilege of serving him. I grew up attending a small Baptist church, and that is where I came to develop a tremendous love for the Lord. Of all the things my Mom did for me as a child, and there were many, the greatest of them all was taking me to church where I grew to love the Lord, and instilling in me Christian values. I was born again at age nine, and what an experience. It is a feeling that words cannot do justice. I attended Sunday School, worship services, Vacation Bible School, participated in plays, sang duets with my sister, and was a part of any other activity made available to me. I developed, at an early age, the greatest foundation anyone could ever have, and that foundation was Jesus Christ.
My backsliding occurred in 1978, and it lasted for a number of years. On Thursday, March 2, 1978, I was at home with my parents, when the phone rang. My Daddy picked up the phone, said hello, and in an instant I knew something was wrong. The caller on the other end of the line was my Mom's sister, my Aunt Bessy, and she was calling to say that something was seriously wrong with my Grandfather, my Mom's Daddy. Mom and Dad rushed out the back door in seconds heading for my grandparents home.
I have to tell you that I loved my grandfather dearly, he taught me a great deal, and it is from him that I got my love for sports. We were very close, and this phone call scared me, and upset me tremendously. I had been to visit my grandparents on Tuesday of the same week, and I was mad about something that day. I feel sure my behavior made that evident. As soon as my parents closed the back door I raced down the hall to the bathroom, closed the door, dropped to my knees, and began praying, and praying hard. I pleaded with God to spare my grandfather at least long enough for me to see him one more time, and tell him how much he meant to me, and how very much I loved him. Hours later my parents came home, and the expression on my Mom's face coupled with the fact that she had the quilt from my grandparents bed wrapped around her; left no doubt in my mind that God had not answered my plea. My grandfather had gone home to be with the Lord.
For the first time in my life I became angry at God. I was firing off question after question to him. How could you do this to me? What would it have hurt for you to allow me to see him one more time? I begged you, I pleaded with you, I go to Sunday School and church, I sing praises to you, and you know how much I love you. Why couldn't you give me one last moment with my grandfather?
After my grandfathers funeral my anger at God grew and it lingered. I strayed further and further from my walk with him feeling as though he had turned his back on me. I began going out to clubs, drinking, and disobeying my parents among other things. I stopped praying and it would be years before I stepped foot back in church. In fact, the next time I entered that church was ten years later in 1988 when I attended my grandmother's funeral.
Throughout the years I spent as a backslider I could never get God off of my mind. He stayed after me to repent from my sins, and to turn back to him. He was relentless. I mean he literally stayed after me for years. No matter how hard I tried to block him out I couldn't do it. He kept loving me, and he kept after me to turn from my sinful ways. He watched over me and protected me throughout all of my foolish behavior and poor choices in spite of the fact that I was furious with him.
There were many occasions during this period in my life, when God would come up in conversation, and it was during these conversations that I began to notice how a number of self-proclaimed Christians talked to and treated those that were lost. I knew that the way I was living my life made me less than a good witness for Christ; so I chose to sit quietly by allowing people to assume I knew nothing about God or his Word. I watched some of these self-proclaimed Christians make God out to be some mean spirited individual standing up in heaven with a lightening bolt in his hand eager to throw it at the nearest individual for the slightest misstep. I watched others harshly judge and condemn non-believers, and witnessed some behave as though they were perfect. These people would stand on their soap boxes and preach to the lost about the sins they were committing, and how displeased God was with them. I have to tell you as a born again believer in Jesus Christ, these things were very difficult to watch. Mad at him or not I knew God is merciful, kind, compassionate, forgiving, understanding, and that he by definition is love. What I was seeing from many Christians, however, was far from a demonstration of love. Observing all of this did two things for me, first and foremost it strongly rekindled the passion I have to share Christ and his love with others. Secondly, it upset me to the degree that it prompted me, years later, to write my book, Christian Behavior a Look in the Mirror in hope of enlightening people to the fact that judgmental behavior and condemnation do not lead people to the Lord, love does.
In 1988, ten years after losing my grandfather, my grandmother was hospitalized with cancer, and her condition was terminal. I was under intense conviction at this point, and I was losing the strength and the desire to fight God off. I couldn't help but notice the irony in the fact that I had turned away from God after the death of my grandfather, and here I was ready to race back to him as I faced losing my grandmother, a woman I was very close to and loved tremendously. It was in the hospital cafeteria, that I realized I could no longer fight off the tears welling up inside me. I found a private area where I could be alone, and I went to God in prayer immediately, I asked him to forgive me for all of the sins I had committed, I asked him to forgive me for being angry with him, I thanked him for watching over me and protecting me, I thanked him for not giving up on me, and I thanked him for loving me through it all.
God forgave me, he healed my backslidings, he showed me mercy, and he cleansed me of all unrighteous just as the above scripture promises, and he did so the moment I turned back to him. If you have turned your back on God and you are under conviction to return to him, I urge you to do so immediately. Don't waste precious time and suffer unnecessarily like I did. God is there waiting for you to return to him, and he loves you right where you are. You are one prayer away from God's divine peace, comfort, strength, understanding, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and his love. I urge you to pray that prayer right now, and I can tell you from experience you won't regret it. The moment I went to God in prayer he did as he promised, he was faithful and just in forgiving me, healing me, and cleansing me from all unrighteousness, and I have no doubt whatsoever that he will do the same for you.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
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