Undeniable Truth #4

EVEN GREAT MEN FALL WHEN THEY TAKE THEIR EYES OFF JESUS- Luke 22:54-62

What makes the difference in a great man of God who is serving Jesus faithfully and a disgraced believer who has fallen hard? Most often- it’s focus. It’s not that most fallen believers got up one day and decided “I’ve followed Jesus long enough- I’m done!

Instead, something comes by and like a beagle, our heads turn,  and we think “squirrel” and our attention is gone!

That’s really all it takes- a distraction.  And the only thing that determines how hard and how far we fall is how long our focus stays on something other than Jesus.

I really wish that the only way I knew this truth is from reading it in a book. But, in reality I’ve experienced this up close and personal. I have had very dear friends that I have labored with shoulder to shoulder in the ministry for years who took their eyes off Jesus and fell hard.

And somehow I always knew that as one famous man said: “but for the grace of God- there go I.”I never felt like it couldn’t be me. Actually at times, I was amazed that it wasn’t me. Seeing it up close, and walking through the pain with their family members has served to give me a healthy respect- even a fear that has helped to keep me from the edge.

And, know this- there is no part of me that pronounces final judgment on any man. We need look no further than the Word of God to see David’s example. Here was a man who relaxed for a season- who took his eyes off the battle God had for him and his epic fall was marked by such heinous sins as adultery and murder and yet- he is called a man after God’s own heart. Through genuine repentance, he discovered the depth of the restoring, redemptive grace of God.

My prayer for you, for me is that although we glance at the world that our gaze will be on Jesus- a focus that will keep us on the straight and narrow.