The other day, I came out of my office at the end of the day to find one of the back tires on my car was almost flat. I live close to the church and there was enough air in the tire for me to make it home. After taking off the tire, I saw that I had run over a screw. Slowly, throughout the day I lost air pressure causing the flat tire.
I remember reading a statement once that said “moral failure and spiritual decline are a lot like a flat tire. Most flat tires don’t occur as the result of a blowout. They occur because air leaks out over time. We’re not aware they exist until perhaps the car is difficult to steer.
The decline of our spiritual life can occur the same way.
David, for example, did not wake up one morning in shameful compromise. He began by giving responsibilities that should have been his to other people, by indulging himself in little things, and he ended up as an adulterer and murderer. Judas didn't determine overnight to betray the Lord. He began compromising in small ways, and finally he was willing to sell the Savior for a pocketful of money. It is that little decisions lead to consequences.
I recently finished reading the book of Nehemiah. In the final chapter, Nehemiah gives the people of Jerusalem a stern warning by asking a powerful question. In verse 11 he asks, “Why is the house of God neglected?”
After the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem, after rebuilding their homes, after hearing the word of God and repenting of their sins, the people find themselves becoming complacent and they begin to neglect the things of God.
Neglect brings complications. It can also bring spiritual decline.
Think about it. If I neglect my health by ignoring my diet and never exercising, I’ll suffer the consequences in my physical body. If I neglect my wife, our relationship will deteriorate. If I neglect my finances, I will find myself in a place of instability.
But the same is true in my spiritual life. Neglect leads to spiritual decline.
I love Hebrews 2:1. It says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1)
Years ago, I was fishing with friends of the Texas coast. We took the boat out of the marina. We went out a ways and began to fish. We were blessed that day because the red fish were biting. But without doing any we were drifting and we didn’t even recognize it. We were preoccupied by the fun we were having catching fish. When I looked up I was amazed. The marina was no where in sight.
Think about neglect. Typically it is not deliberate. It is not willful. It is not intentional sin. It is something that happens because of familiarity, or distraction, caused by one having too many things going in one's life.
I’ve met people who have drifted spiritually. They have experienced spiritual decline. But I’ve never met anyone who did this intentionally. It happened over time by neglect.
The person who is neglecting his salvation is not deliberately setting his mind to turn away from God or His way of life. He is simply, through neglect, allowing himself to drift in that direction. He does not plan to go that way. He gets distracted by things in his life—by hobbies, work, raising children, and so many other things. No matter what it is, he allows himself to neglect what has been given to him.
But listen to this instruction from the Word of God:
Psalm 119:16 - “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”
Hebrews 2:3 - “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation”
1 Timothy 4:14 - “Do not neglect the gift that is in you"
Today’s Challenge: As you pray, ask God to reveal if there is any area of your life in which there is neglect. The Holy Spirit is faithful to reveal those areas that need to be reestablished and recommitted.
