A Key to a Successful Christian Life

Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:

It is a "not if, but when" proposition when it comes to a Christian falling down. But, what we do once we fall is vital. We can continue to beat ourselves up, bemoaning what wicked sinners we are (which is true!) and stay down. Or we can immediately get right with God, accepting His pardon and grace, wipe off the seat of our pants, learn our lessons and go on to greater service for Christ.

Staying down when we have fallen does some serious damage. We need to walk with God, which we can't do lying in the gutter. We cannot be effective if we remain down. There is no joy in Mudville. We won't know the sweetness of victory or the riches of His grace until the Lord has lifted us from sin.

Staying down, once we have fallen, thwarts the purpose of the Lord for our lives, perpetuates bad spiritual discipline and gives a victory to the enemy.

What keeps us down when we have fallen is false humility, rooted in pride. We feel that our misery is greater than His mercy, that our groveling is better than His grace, that our fallen state trumps His forgiveness. We act as if we don't deserve His pardon (what was your first clue?) and so we don't want to bother him for a tow out of the ditch. Our idea is to just lay there in the wallow a while.

What an affront to Jesus! His death and resurrection are so complete. His mercy, grace and forgiveness are so abundant. We need not to stay on the bottom for 10 seconds. He knows the stuff we are made of and what our poor choices would be. His plan, the tow package that would drag our sorry carcasses out of the muck, covers all our sin, past, present and future.

A just man, that is, the justified person, made so only by Christ's righteousness, learns to get up immediately after he has fallen and move on, no matter how many times they get stuck in the muck.

The key to successful Christian growth, when (not if) you fall, get right back up. Don't stay down! God’s tow truck is on the way as soon as you make the emergency call.