But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James 1:14.

Life is constantly drawing us nearer to Christ as our life center, or drawing us farther away. Most of those who lose their way, do not actually reject Christ. They simply say No to Him in a part of their lives.

Often we are tempted, like the prodigal, to take our portion of goods and enjoy them apart from the Father. Material prosperity and worldly pleasures may make a man forget his God. The fascinations of the world and the flesh may make us insensitive to our daily fellowship with Christ.

Things which lead men astray may be considered trivial. We tolerate things contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. Rarely do men make some radical departure from truth and uprightness. We speak of men falling into sin. More commonly they slide into it. There are hosts of satanic subtleties by which people are led away from the truth. There are half-way houses to denial of Christ. There are dubious entertainments and engagements whose questionableness sap the clear convictions once held and which, like a thief in the night, drain men of the fruit of the Spirit.

Prayer is not abandoned. One simply can get along without it most of the time. One still goes to church. Insidiously, life with God is reduced.

Who of us can detect one's slow departure from God and the truth? A mountain climber explained the birth of a crevasse in a glacier. At first the break in the ice is almost imperceptible. Later one can barely step across it, and finally the fissure becomes an impassable chasm.

Adam and Eve had no intention of departing from the Garden and from God. Gehazi had no thought of leprosy when he lied. Judas Iscariot anticipated no suicide when he betrayed the Son of God. One may drift into sin in many ways without any intention to deny God. Departure from truth in any form is always perilous. It may not take us out of the church. But it may take us away from God. It is always to our spiritual and moral advantage to maintain strict fidelity to the truth as God has given it to us.