Dirty Pigs, Puke Licking Dogs, and Falling Away

When I was a kid and somebody stopped going to church on Wednesdays, then Sunday night, then finally Sunday morning, the grown-ups said they were "falling away."  I remember wondering about it.  Was it an accident, like tripping on the sidewalk? It seemed such a long process that in my child's mind, I imagined them falling endlessly down a rabbit's hole like Alice in Wonderland.  It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that this was nothing more than a euphemism - a polite way to express an unspeakable thing.

Rising Again

While working my way through Proverbs, I was often encouraged and challenged.  I want to share with you one last note of encouragement from this book.  Proverbs 24:16 says, "For the righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity."  In our Christian walk, we will have times of trials, difficulties, and failures.  If we want to be true women of God, we have to pick ourselves up and keep going.  In the end we want to be able to echo Paul's words: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).  This is part of the reason for Melissa and Helene's focus on the Spiritual disciplines this month.  When we make prayer, meditation, reading, and the others consistently part of our life, it is easier to rise again when we fall.  Also hopefully those falls will be fewer and farther in between when we are staying close to the Father, which is really what the spiritual disciplines are all about.  Please share below what helps you to rise again when you fall. 

Jane

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), Copyright(c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

In Memory

What is more precious to you than your own soul?  Simple.  The soul of someone you love.  Paul said that. "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Romans 9:3).  I know what he means.  My husband's soul is to me more precious than my own.  Why do I bring it up?  Because at one time it was in danger.