“Consider How Far You Have Fallen”

Many times, we may be aware of some weaknesses we go through or some temptations we keeping falling into, however, we choose to remain blinded to what God might be convicting us or allowing ourselves to continue immersing in it. We may be unsure of what to do about it or are passive about facing it. However, as we continue to live this way, it will become very obvious as we look into our hearts. We will not be joyful because there will always be subtle accusations within us. And if we still do not deal with it, we will start to see it overflow into the way we lead our lives and our relationships with our loved ones. So instead of remaining or hiding ourselves in these weaknesses, we should really start to introspect and think about how we ended up in this state. One of the greatest reason we often remain in long-standing or recurring sins and temptations is because our spiritual conscience is not provoked. We enjoy getting quick fixes, short term pleasures and momentary comfort, or we prefer to just lament and let things be. But that is actually the moment we should instead, start to put in prayerful reflections. We all are prone to fall in different ways. Some may be in terms of financial management, some may be self worth, some may be lust, and many more. Now, we really need to introspect and find the root of the problem, or at least the triggering points. If not, we will find ourselves always living in a prolong state of weakness. Brothers and sisters, let us not be nonchalant or too complacent about the deep issues in our lives. We need to face it, be conscious and sensitive about it, then rely on the Holy Spirit’s conviction to deal with it. That is where healing can begin.

By The Grace Of God

Now before we start introspecting within ourselves, we need to be upfront with God first. We need to be upfront with God about the struggles we face and do not escape from reflecting issues in the depths of our hearts. And just as 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” Even if we are able at times, we are able to do certain things, succeed in some areas or triumph some weakness, we should all the more be watchful and spiritual vigilant to acknowledge that it was God’s grace sustaining us all along. To be honest, nowadays, the grace of God has been used too freely to keep people focusing on looking at the good and positive side of our life, but not really going deeper to deal with what God is truly concerned in our hearts. Those hidden sins, weaknesses not dealt with or dual lifestyles. Now let us take a look at Revelations 2, where God recognise the deeds and hard work of the church of Ephesus. However, the Lord went on to rebuke them in Revelations 2:4-6. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Now, we must see here that even though God rebuked the church of Ephesus, it is out of His love and grace for them. It would be a pity if their previous good works were taken over by that one weakness they did not deal with. So it is like a wake up call to the people of the church. And very similarly, instead of seeing the rebuke of our Holy Spirit as merely accusations on us, we should acknowledge God’s love upon us to keep us on our toes and “consider how far we have fallen.”

Grow in Repentance

Now that we are upfront with God and introspected the state of our hearts, we have to grow a repentant heart. This has to start from firstly being conscious of where we fall, and this usually stems from pride. Pride is when we, unlike the previous point, do not see God’s grace in all the good works we have done. We may tend to attribute our successes to ourselves and that is where we are prone to fall— to lose our first love for the Lord and a love without personal motive for people. When a person is clouded by their own pride, they are not aware of the deterioration in the spiritual state, but instead, they will keep looking at what they have achieved, what they have done for the Lord, and would also start judging people who are not able to do things by their standards. So we really need to careful about areas of pride in our lives that are potential pitfalls for driving us away from humility before the Lord and boosters for self exaltation.

Next, to grow in repentance, as Revelations 2:5 says, we need to “repent and do the things we did at first.” We need to go back to our very first faith-driven motive and works. Many of us tend to feel bad or lousy about some weaknesses we have, but also quickly forget about it and move on. But a person who is truly repentant will want to turn back to do the things God has convicted him to do at first. For example, if we start feeling overly competitive and stressed at work, we need to go back to the motive of why we are in this job in the first place— to be a witness for God. Or when we start to fall into typical parental worries about studies or enrichment classes, we need to go back and think about how we want to raise our child in the way of the Lord in the first place— to be God-loving and God-fearing vessels for their generation. So when we start to be overwhelmed by many personal desires or temptations, go back to doing the God-intended things we did at first. Follow the way of loving the Lord.

Restoration Will Follow

Brothers and sisters, as we continue to affirm the Lord’s grace and grow repentance amid our weaknesses, when we look back and reflect on our lives, our hearts will instead, be full of thanksgiving. We will start to enjoy the abundant life in Christ, instead of easily fretting and wavering along with the flows and woes of life. As Revelations 4:7 says, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Even though we are born with sins, but the reward of God is that as we continue to abide by the Spirit, we will once again eat the fruits of the tree of life and see restorations coming into our lives. We will start to see all our conditions serving a purpose and becoming a blessing instead, both to ourselves and others.

May we all anticipate the restoration works of the Lord in each of us. God bless.