So if you've noticed, the title of this blog is "Backslidin really hurts your butt". I've been thinking about backsliding lately. Okay, I'll be honest with you guys. I've felt that I've been a little backsliding lately. Don't worry-I didn't run away from home, or do drugs, or lose my virginity. ;) I've just felt a bit...well let me explain it to you this way:
You remember the old cartoons of "Batman"? Not these new movies. I mean the old cartoons. I grew up watching those. And even now, old enough to drive a car, I occasionally pull out those old cartoons and sit down with some popcorn and watch them. :) Anyways-you remember Bruce Wayne's real-good friend, Harvey Dent, the D.A.? Remember what happened to him? In case you don't, he became known as "Two-Face". So here's what I'm getting at. Two-Face had this one woman that he loved. In fact, when he was still Harvey Dent, he was engaged to her. So anyways, Two-Face would be angry and raging, but he'd pull out that picture of his true love, and regret all the terrible things he'd done. And you remember how Two-Face looked? With one angry side of a face and one "Harvey-Dent" side of a face? When Harvey looked at his picture of his true love, his "Harvey-face" would soften, but his angry face would still be angry. So what I mean when I say "I feel like Two-Face"is this: yes-I am referring to "Batman", and that I feel like Two-Face in the way that when I do something I regret, I start thinking about my frist love (God) and my "Harvey-Dent" side of me starts to soften.
So are you still wondering, "What does Batman and Harvey Dent have to do with 'Backsliding really hurts your butt'?" I have another story for this one:
This weekend, I was with some friends. One of my friends was driving, so she was in the drivers seat. Let's do some roll-play. So to "protect the names of the innocent", let's call her Jane. So Jane was in the drivers seat. So my other friend (we'll call her Lucy), was trying to get in the passenger's seat. But my other friends (let's say they're named Jim and Tom), decided to jump on the side of the car. So while Lucy is holding on to the door-handle, and Jim and Tom are securely fastened to the side of the car, Jane-the-driver takes off! Suddenly, Lucy looses her grip and falls on the ground, rolling around, and loosing some skin in the process. She didn't get hurt that bad, but she had some bad road-rash. So I linked that in my mind to backsliding. Lucy thought she had a strong grip on the car, but she didn't. Don't we think like that? We think we have a good grip on our sin, but it eventually starts speeding away and we end up falling and sliding on our bee-hinds. And we usually lose some skin in the process. It hurts usually. Just today, I saw "Lucy", and she told me "I'm okay, but I'm really sore." We get a bit scraped up, but we always end up okay and just a little sore. But there's this miraculous thing called "Neosporin". Have you ever used Neosporin? It works wonders. It kind of stings when you put it on, but it works for our good. Isn't that kind of like God's discipline? It always kind of stings a little bit, but it always helps us out. It cleans out our wounds. But that's not all! Then we've got these things called "Band-aids". Band-aids cover that wound, until it's healed all the way. Isn't that how God's love works? After we get a little discipline, we then get some "TLC", or "Tender loving care", and it covers our fault and protects the little damage we have, until we're healed.
My favorite band, Relient K, wrote a song once called "I so hate consequences", and the bridge goes like this:
"When I got tired of running from you, I stopped right there to catch my breath
Then your words they caught my ears-
You said 'I miss you son, come home!'
And my sins, the watched me leave
And in my heart I so believe
The love you felt for me was mine
A love I wished for all this time.
And when the doors were closed, I heard no 'I-told-you-so'-
You said the words I knew you knew.
God-oh God I needed you!
God all this time I needed you! I needed you!
And I so hate consequences-running from you is what my best defense is.
I hate these consequences!
Cause I know that I let you down.
And i don't wanna deal with that."
(Quote from "I so hate consequences" by Relient K)
I'm pretty sure that says it all. God doesn't shove it in your face that you messed up. He just brings you back, just like the prodigal son. If you really wanna hear a good story about a guy who backslid, read about Peter. He denied Jesus 3 times. But he was still one of the people who kicked off Christianity. And we can't forget the prodigal son. He ran from his dad, disrespected him, and spent all his money. But his dad welcomed him with open arms. That's how God is. No matter what you do, he loves you. He always uses a little "Neosporin-discipline", and it stings, but he'll cover it up with his "Band-aid-love", until it's completly healed, and you'll have no scars to show.
