Like skateboarding, one secret to succeeding in the Christian walk is to keep getting up. Solomon understood this point, and articulated it with typical accuracy in Proverbs 24:16, “For a just man falls seven times, and rises up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”

You will notice that both the righteous (“just”) and the wicked fall. So the difference between the righteous and the wicked is not that the righteous doesn’t fall, but that he gets up after he falls. But let’s take this a step further, shall we? According to this verse, who falls more? The answer is unavoidable, isn’t it? It’s the righteous man. The righteous man falls more precisely because he keeps getting up. It is axiomatic that you cannot fall down unless you were standing up. According to our verse, the wicked falls just once because when he falls he stays down. Unlike the righteous man, he doesn’t get back up.

The message is clear. (Could it be any clearer?) Even if you fall and fail (especially when you fall and fail!), go to the cross—to the Christ of the cross. Bow down. Ask for forgiveness. Trust Jesus. Take His hand. Get up. Repeat as often as necessary. Keep getting up.

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