I hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep last Saturday night. The only kind of “turning back” that I really enjoy is turning that alarm clock back one hour. I hate to be driving down the road and have to turn back because I have forgotten something at home. I really, really hate to have to turn back because I have made a wrong turn and no longer know where I am.
God feels the same way when we turn back from faithfully following Him. Hebrews 10:38 says…
“The people God accepts will live because of their faith. But He isn’t pleased with anyone who turns back”.
In Gal. 1:6 Paul wrote…
“I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you because of His wonderful kindness. You have believed another message”.
In Gal.4:9 he tells us what that other “message”, or “gospel”, as the King James translates the word, really is. There Paul asks, “How can you turn back again to the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?” Paul is obviously reminding believers of the joy they experienced when they first met the Lord and began to follow His direction for their life. But some “turned back” and began seeking some joy in life from the same places lost people look for joy.
The “other message” those believers had started following was simply the old message this fallen world has always promoted. “Go for the gusto!” Work harder at recreation and entertainment than you actually work at work. Paul called that message “the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world”. They are “powerless and bankrupt” because, as soon as the recreation or entertainment end, so does the joy!
Proverbs 14:14 says…
“A heart that turns from God becomes bored with its own ways, but a good person is satisfied with God’s ways”.
I cannot think of any word which better summarizes the life of most people today than “bored”. I think we may have made a wrong turn! Fortunately God also offers the invitation over and over in the Bible for us to re-turn to Him. He still has joy to offer when we do!
Bro. Dennis