We fAll DoWn

There's a song that says "We fall down but we get up! The saint is just a sinner who fell down but got up!"

The one scripture passage that best describes this for me is found in Proverbs 24:16 "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief."

Several commentaries point to this verse to describe believers who are not temporary in their opinions or like those that turn their faith on and off like a faucet. They are fully persuaded in what they stand for, all the time knowing that they are thoroughly unrighteous and it's only because of the blood of Jesus Christ that they have any righteousness at all to speak of.




These types may fall into temptation and affliction but they wholly rely on the Lord to bring them out of every one. They don't continue to lie down in and wallow in the mess they fall into. Using the imagery of a pig in slop is appropriate for this scenario. They are not trying to escape the pig pen and get clean. They are content with remaining in it and devouring whatever is in it to be had.

The imagery of a traveler falling on his way to an important destination is also appropriate. They may fall down and hurt themselves in their stumbling but they continue to get up after each fall and also continue towards their intended destination.

These kinds are not exempt from persecution and attacks of many kinds. They are not insulated against worldly losses and are not wholly unaffected by the things that can touch our lives. They feel the same pains and the same angst. They cry out in the midnight hour. They feel helplessness and often face doubts. The difference is they get back up and continue to walk.

If nothing else, this is meant to encourage you to keep going, keep fighting, keep pressing into, and keep believing by faith. This is not over!





“Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (Psalms 37:24)