How to Backslide

Big Idea: Because our hearts naturally drift toward disorder, we will backslide unless we keep pouring fresh spiritual energy into Scripture, community, priorities, and family.

Overview

Drawing from Nehemiah 13, the speaker compares spiritual life to the law of entropy: left alone, passion cools and things decay. Nehemiah left Jerusalem for only a short season, yet the people slid back into old sins. Likewise, believers today can quietly lose their first love. The message names four predictable on-ramps to backsliding—neglecting the Bible, surrounding ourselves with the wrong companions, letting priorities get scrambled, and failing to steward the family—and shows how each appeared in Jerusalem after Nehemiah’s absence. The goal is not merely to diagnose decline but to stir believers to re-ignite devotion, run to Christ, and finish strong.

Key Scripture

• Nehemiah 13 — Narrative anchor: Israel’s quick relapse reveals the pathways of backsliding.
• 2 Peter 1 — Call to growth: “add to your faith” counters spiritual entropy.
• John 15 — Theological anchor: abiding in Christ supplies the continual life-flow we need.

Main Points

1. Misplace your Bible — neglect of Scripture opens the door to decay.
• When the Law was finally read again (13:1–3), the people instantly saw how far they had drifted—proof that time away from God’s Word breeds confusion, apathy, and vulnerability.
• Illustration: the speaker’s vintage Honda CB-450; without attention the parts rust, just as a spirit rusts when no energy is added.
• Discipline leads to desire and delight: keep reading even when it feels hard so the flame does not go out.

2. Misalign your companions — wrong relationships accelerate drift.
• The high priest Eliashib gave Tobiah (a sworn enemy) an apartment in the Temple courts (13:4–9).
• “Evil company corrupts good morals”: if you lie down with dogs, you rise with fleas.
• Practical counsel: guard your inner circle, be upfront about your faith, and seek friends who build you up (e.g., a connect group).

3. Misarrange your priorities — the urgent crowds out the ultimate.
• People stopped supporting Levites (13:10–14) and turned the Sabbath into a market day for extra profit (13:15–22).
• The solar-system image: make God the sun at the center so every other “planet” (work, family, hobbies) finds its right orbit.
• Keeping a Sabbath rhythm is stewardship, not laziness.

4. Mismanage your family — lose the next generation.
• Jews intermarried with Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab; their children could no longer speak Hebrew (13:23–31).
• Nehemiah’s fierce response (public rebuke, pulling hair) shows the stakes: if kids lose the language of faith, the nation’s future collapses.
• Parents partner with God to disciple their children; what we plant today becomes the shade our grandchildren enjoy.

Application

The call: Return to the person of Christ—make Him the center, add fresh “energy” to your walk, and finish the race without regret.

Head — Acknowledge spiritual entropy: identify which of the four areas is leaking energy in your life.

Heart — Rekindle first love for Jesus; invite the Spirit to stir holy desire and joy again.

Hands

1. Set a daily, undistracted time in Scripture this week.
2. Evaluate your closest relationships and initiate time with one godly friend.
3. Re-order your schedule around worship and rest; guard a true Sabbath.
4. Invest deliberately in family discipleship—pray, read, and talk about faith at home.

Reflection Questions

1. When was the last time God’s Word freshly convicted or encouraged you? What changed afterward?
2. Which friendships are pushing you toward Jesus, and which are quietly pulling you away?
3. Look at your calendar and bank statement—what do they reveal about your real priorities?
4. How are you actively passing on the “language of faith” to the next generation?
5. What single action will you take this week to counter spiritual entropy?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You are our strong tower. Forgive us for drifting from Your Word, Your people, and Your ways. By Your Spirit, re-ignite our love, re-order our priorities, surround us with companions who spur us on, and help us shepherd our families well. Keep us abiding in You so that we may finish our race with joy. In Your name we pray, Amen.