RISE AGAIN

 “For a righteousness man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Proverbs 24:16.

              We often fall into troubles or into sin or often both in our Christian journey. Our paths are a combination of ups and downs and it’s completely normal, ‘for there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not’(Ecclesiastes 7:20). We are brought forth in sin and iniquity to this world. We are all weak and sinners but God chose us and cleansed us by the blood of Jesus Christ and is molding us according to His will and purpose. 

                Apostle Paul in Romans 7 acknowledges to the fact that, “no matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself to do right. I want to, but I can’t... if I’m doing what I do not want to do, I am not,...the sin within me is doing it.” We all go through those times of trials and temptations, where we may fail and fall. It is because of our old human nature in us. But when we constantly consider that we can’t overcome any situations by ourselves and completely depend on God, His strength would lift us up and lead us to victory. Many of us might live in ‘condemnation’ and ‘guilt’ because of our failures and imperfections. But in Romans 8:1, we read that, “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” God never condemns us or rejects us for our iniquities, but He leads us to ‘conviction’, where we are made restored. With condemnation we would reject ourselves and the cross has no meaning in our lives; but with conviction, it draws us closer to the divine exchange at the cross of Calvary. 

               We all know that Judas and Peter both denied Jesus; but one was restored and the other ended dreadfully. Peter denied Christ three times whereas Judas did once, but conviction brought Peter back to repentance and godliness whereas condemnation led Judas to end his life awfully. We must learn that God is not yet done with our lives, but He is patiently molding us and shaping us for His glory. We are still in the making process. This doesn’t encourage us to sin or be careless, but to fear God for He abundantly forgives. Let us not give up but be patient with God and submit ourselves unto Him. For a child of God, no failure is final!