I learned how to water ski when I was a teenager. Surprisingly, I didn’t have any trouble getting up, but the coming down was much dreaded. I knew a fall was inevitable, and it would be only a matter of moments before I was face-first on the water. You would think that the fear of falling would have aided me in staying vertical longer, but my fall always came quickly and was usually painful. Strangely, there was relief in the fall, and I sighed knowing it was over. Because I knew I would fall, I premeditated it, anticipated it, waited for it, and then was relieved by it.
Unfortunately, as believers, we often view our earthly journey in a similar way. Everyone at some point deals with a nagging transgression that continues to rear its ugly head–that habitual sin that we just can’t seem to shake. We understand Christ is sufficient. We know to cling to Him in the moment of temptation. We believe no temptation has overtaken us but such as is common to man (1 Cor. 10:13). Yet we fall. Proverbs states a righteous man falls, but rises again (Prov. 24:16). This certainly is an encouragement to strive onward. But I have to wonder: does our premeditation of the fall help it to happen? Do we find relief once it has taken place, even though it is so very painful?
Victory over sin is ours through Christ. Romans 8:37 tells us we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. We CAN quit the sin cold turkey. We CAN be released from its grip and never look back. We CAN choose, through the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, not to fall again. We are sinners and our nature lends itself to failure, but Christ is perfect. He has defeated the power of sin, death, and unbelief, and we are blessed to share in His triumph (1 Cor. 15:56-57). We need not look for the next fall. Let us consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11)!
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