Backslidings Healed

"A voice was heard on the desolate heights, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the LORD their God. ²² "Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." "Indeed we do come to You, for You are the LORD our God."

Jeremiah 3:21-22

Growing up the term "backslider" was a common way of saying a person had returned to a life of overt sin.  It was used to refer to a person who was out of the practice of regular church attendance and returned to a life marked by addiction to booze and drugs.  I heard many people also call themselves backsliders because they had gone back to a worldly way of living they knew was sinful and harmful, yet the use of the term suggested their current lifestyle did not correlate with their genuine Christianity.  Though they lived like an unbeliever, it seemed being a "backslider" was a claim to faith and acknowledgement of wrong where true repentance was not required.

These verses in Jeremiah 3 show backsliding can be much more subtle than living in overt sin.  Though many of the children of Israel were involved in idolatry, fornication and disobeyed God's commands, our way is perverted when we forget the LORD.  Like a trip and fall can cause serious and life-threatening injuries, so backsliding by forgetting the LORD is God over all damages us.  Departing from faith in the LORD and forgetting to seek Him leads to physical and spiritual injury only He can heal.  God urged His people to return to Him their God, and He promised to heal their backslidings.  This word is plural because people backslide in many ways.  He would address and heal their broken lives and warped minds, even as a neglected sheep has need to be dewormed, overgrown wool matted with feces must be cut away, and open wounds treated.  Our neglect of seeking and trusting the LORD for a moment can do damage time alone cannot cure.

When people backslide from God, their way is perverted because God is not in their thoughts.  They do not consider the directives God has given or the promises of help He has provided.  By His grace God makes healing possible for His people when they return to Him as LORD in faith.  James 5:14-16 says, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  The word translated "sick" here means afflicted and weak, and it would be wrong to limit this to a physical malady.  God brings healing for the mind, body and soul of those who backslide when we humble ourselves before the LORD and others and pray for one another.  It is the prayer of faith God responds to more than a ceremonial anointing.

I love that it is not the wandering soul who begs to return but it is the LORD who calls out to His children, "Return, and I will heal your backslidings."  Like the father in the parable of the son who returned embraced and kissed him, so the LORD joyfully responds to our return to Him.  Whether our departure was protracted or just forgot to seek Him in making a single decision, when we return in repentance there is healing and restoration in the LORD our God.  Better than identifying as backsliders, may we learn to abide in Jesus Christ.