After serving in the ministry for many years, routine, duty, and the “noise” of distractions can affect even the most dedicated servant. The mundane can subtly replace perspective.

Hymn writers have often expressed these basic human tendencies in spiritual songs.

For example, no one could debate the potentially discouraging emotion from the events that led Horatio Spafford to write It Is Well with My Soul or George Beverly Shea’s expressions of reviving the wayward soul with the hymns The Wonder of It All and I’d Rather Have Jesus. Even the great King David prayed and asked God to restore the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12). If we are spiritually mature, we will admit that at certain times we can all be prey to bouts of discouragement that may or may not be rooted in sin, as was the case with David. Many times, just plodding along doing the right thing can invite oppression; consider Job, Elijah, Nehemiah.

Romans 7:19-25 summarizes Paul’s inner struggle: though he wants to do what is right, he repeatedly fails because of a sinful force within him. He describes two competing laws—the law of his mind that delights in God’s law, and the law of sin that lives in his members and leads him to do what he hates. This conflict leaves him anguished and helpless, until he gives thanks for deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are prone to wander from God.

Prone to wander is a phrase from the 1758 Christian hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The hymn was written by Robert Robinson, who experienced the sad reality of yielding to the temptation to wander away from God.

Later in life, Robert, a very unhappy man, expressed the degeneration of his spiritual life, “I would give a thousand worlds, if I had the chance to enjoy the feelings I had then.” At the age of 19, Robert was saved out of deep sin while attending a church service and hearing the preaching of George Whitefield. Later, Robinson became a preacher in the Methodist Church, then he fled to the Baptists, and eventually ended in a Unitarian Church. The Unitarians deny the deity of Jesus Christ.

He wrote that hymn when he was a young Pastor, still in love and communion with Christ. However, at the end of his life he knew about wandering and about the terrible price it can bring. He died a miserable, wayward soul.

If you are not as close to Christ as you once were, guess who moved? It was not God who is a fixed point. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). When Moses asked God, who was speaking to him out of the burning bush, who shall I say to Pharaoh has sent me. God replied with His eternal name: "I am that I am." (Exodus 3:14). This profound divine name signifies the self-existence, eternal constancy, and ultimate sovereignty of God. I am Who I always have been and Who I always will be.

If we are not securely anchored, we are at the mercy of our circumstances and will drift away.

My Uncle Maynard owned a pontoon boat. He and my Aunt Minnie had a beautiful home on the Catawba River in Hickory, NC. One Saturday night there was a fierce storm, and it loosened the boat from its moorings. While getting ready for church on Sunday morning, Uncle Maynard noticed his boat was missing from his dock. Frantically, he ran down to the dock, and his boat was nowhere in sight. He got in his truck, drove down the river, and found it across the other side, stuck in some brush and fallen trees. He got it towed back to his property, repaired the damage, and made sure that the anchor was holding the boat securely.

Just like the unsecured vessel is entirely at the mercy of shifting winds and changing tides, a person who wanders without a spiritual anchor drifts aimlessly. That illustration focuses on the danger of leaving the safety of the harbor of truth.

There is a Biblical example of one who wandered from the faith. His name is Demas. When we first meet Demas, Paul calls him a “fellow laborer.” That phrase means a companion in the work (Philemon 1:24). He is mentioned along with Luke, Mark, and Aristarchus, three men who were well known in the early church. Mark wrote one of the gospels, and Luke wrote the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts. We learn that Aristarchus was a fellow inmate with Paul in Colossians 4:10. All were traveling companions of the Apostle Paul. All were well known, well respected, and well liked during this part of Paul’s life and work.

As close as Demas was to Paul and as much as he grew in the Lord, it did not last. In 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul writes, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” We have no record of how Demas came to know the Lord Jesus as his Savior. We can only hope that he did. It would appear that all those around him thought he was authentic. A time came when Demas fizzled out as a servant of the Lord. He was going along well, but he burned out and fell out.

This illustrates the first principle in wandering: a perfect start does not guarantee a perfect ending. How we finish is just as important as how we begin.

When I was on the track team in High School, I learned that in the long-distance races, a team would strategically place what was known as a “rabbit” in the race. The “rabbit” would start the race by running at a faster pace with the hope that other runners would fall for his tactic and try to keep up with him, hence tiring out the competition and allowing a teammate who was wise to the strategy, keeping a steady pace and conserving energy, to eventually overcome the pack and win the race. Experienced coaches would instruct their athletes not to chase the “rabbit.”

How many times have we seen this truth at work in the church? A person will come to the altar, pray a prayer, stand up, tell the church, and take off like they were shot out of a cannon. Then a few months later or a couple of years later, they are nowhere to be found. What happened? They started quickly, but they did not maintain the steady faithfulness required to stay the course.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus talked about this type of person in Luke 8:13. He talks about a sower spreading seed on different surfaces. Some fell among the weeds, some on stony ground, and some on fertile soil. He explains that the seed that fell on the rock is the one that, when they hear, receives the word with joy, but since they do not have roots, they grow for a while, but in times of testing, fall away.

Let us remember that Jesus had someone like this among his twelve disciples. Judas Iscariot had everyone fooled. The disciples must have trusted him, for he carried the money for the group. In the upper room at what has commonly been called the Last Supper, Jesus announced one of them was a devil and planned to betray Him., It is interesting that no one immediately turned and looked at Judas, convinced that he must be the culprit (John 6:70-71). On the contrary, they begin to ask if they would be the one to commit the treacherous deed.

This leads us to the second principle of wandering: the downward slope is gradual.

In Colossians 4:14, we find Demas is still with Paul, but something is wrong. There are no glowing words, accolades, or titles when Paul mentions him; it just says “… and Demas….” He says to the church at Colossae that Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas. With a little latitude, reading between the lines, Demas is reporting for duty. His heart is not like it used to be. He is going through the motions. He is lukewarm.

This change in his heart will soon show up in the rest of his life. Perhaps it started with a little indulgence here, a little toying around with temptation there. Purposely staying under the spiritual radar. Eventually, he was under the control of his passions rather than the Spirit of God.

James 1:14-15 teaches that the process of sin is first seductive (drawn away), then deceptive (enticed), then a conception (lust has conceived), then productive (brings forth sin), and finally, there is a conclusion (sin brings forth death). This pathway is a slippery slope with a very definitive stop at the bottom of the hill.

Consider examples from the Bible.

• David fell into sin when he entertained temptation in his life. He decided that he deserved some me-time away from his leadership responsibility.
• Sampson was so cocky and sure of himself that he fell asleep in the enemy's lap.
• Demas convinced himself that he could go through the motions and do the work of the Lord in the power of the flesh.

Let’s look at Acts 20:9; there is a story about a man named Eutychus who fell asleep while Paul was preaching. He fell from a third-story window to his death. Paul rushed to him and miraculously raised him back to life. Here is a little-known theological gem: do you know why Eutychus fell out of the window? Here it comes—great hermeneutical truth--there was more of Eutychus hanging out of that window than there was of Eutychus hanging in! Do you understand the correlation to drifting from the Lord? When we are more out of fellowship than in fellowship with the Lord, we too will fall. Eutychus’ visible disinterest by falling asleep, led to his demise. There is a definite sign of slipping away when we become disinterested or bored with the things of the Lord.

The final principle about being prone to wander is that your direction always determines your destination.

In 2 Timothy 4:10, we see where Demas’s choices ultimately led him. His love for the present world became greater than his commitment to the Lord. Somewhere along the way, he chose the wrong path and ended in a place that he never intended to be. Pastor Adrian Rogers said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

Satan has used these principles since the Garden of Eden and even before that when he successfully convinced a third of the host of Heaven to rebel against God. Let us not kid ourselves, God created us to love. Love is the identifier of a disciple (John 13:35). The first step in leading someone to Christ is the observable God-given love (all men know---how do they know? --- They observe that you are my disciples…) that draws others to meet the Source of that love. We cannot genuinely love Him if we are in love with the world, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

When we choose to walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the company of mockers (Psalm 1:1) rather than the narrow way of righteousness, we should not be surprised when our path leads us far away from the Lord, cools our heart, and moves us deep into sin. There is nothing sadder than to witness the spiritual destruction of a believer through his own indulgence and self-deception.

To illustrate this point, I am reminded of a story one of my former students, a captain in the Army, stationed in Alaska, told me about how Eskimos kill a wolf. He said that they will sharpen a knife as sharp as possible. Then he will coat the knife with seal or walrus blood and allow it to freeze. He will then dip the knife and freeze it until it is hidden in the layers of frozen blood. He will set the block of ice out in the open. Wolves have a keen sense of smell and will come along, smell the blood, and begin to lick the blood off the blade of the knife. The wolf will lick the blood with its warm tongue until it reaches the sharpened blade of the knife. By the time the wolf’s tongue touches the blade, it is numbed by the cold. When it reaches the knife, it keeps on licking, not realizing it is now tasting its own blood from its own tongue as the knife cuts into its flesh. This sends the wolf into a feeding frenzy, and he licks until he eventually bleeds to death.

When we feed the flesh and not the spirit, we will find that its appetite grows beyond our control (Galatians 5-6). It will demand more than we can give it. Not realizing that the thing we desire is slowly killing us spiritually. What might seem your slave today may soon become your master tomorrow.

Perhaps the saddest phrase in the Bible is when Samson jumped up off of Delilah’s lap after giving in to temptation, lost his divinely granted strength, and declared: "I will jump up as I always have and shake myself." He was unaware that God’s power had left him (Judges 16:20).

I wonder how many of our ministries are doing the same, going through the motions of preprogrammed Christianity, not even aware that God has removed His power.

I had a professor in college say, “We have legislated our church services so meticulously that if the Holy Spirit wanted to move in the congregation, He would need to make an appointment to lay out His goals and objectives at the next scheduled deacon’s meeting.”

Let me summarize the principles that lead to meandering away from the Lord:

1. A perfect start does not guarantee a perfect ending (Philemon 1:24)
2. The downward slope is subtle and gradual (Colossians 4:14)
3. Your direction always decides your destination (2 Timothy 4:10)

Here are 10 things that can help anchor our hearts from wandering:

1. Stay close to God's Word.

The Bible renews our thinking, exposes sinful attitudes, and reminds us of God's character.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11).

2. Cultivate a daily prayer life.

Prayer is more than presenting requests; it is fellowship with God. Honest prayer keeps your heart sensitive to His leading.

3. Watch what shapes your affections.

Proverbs 4:23 says: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Your heart follows what you consistently feed it. Paul reminds us that not everything that is permissible is beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23).

• What occupies your thoughts?
• What entertainment influences your desires?
• Who has the greatest influence on your life?

4. Confess sin quickly.

Do not allow unconfessed sin to harden your heart. Keep short sin accounts with God.

1 John 1:9 reminds believers: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

5. Stay connected to a faithful church.

God designed Christians to grow together. Worship, biblical preaching, fellowship, and accountability help protect against spiritual isolation. Hebrews 10:24–25 encourages believers not to neglect meeting together because we strengthen one another.

6. Practice obedience in small things.

Hearts rarely wander overnight. Drift often begins with small compromises. Faithfulness in everyday decisions builds spiritual strength. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

7. Bring your thoughts into captivity (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Don't merely remember what God has done for you; remember who Christ is. A heart captivated by Christ is less likely to be captivated by the world.

8. Examine yourself regularly.

Ask questions like:

• Is my love for Christ growing or cooling?
• Am I obeying what I already know?
• Do I desire holiness?
• Am I serving God out of love or merely habit?
• What has become more important to me than Christ?

9. Depend on the Holy Spirit.

Guarding your heart is not accomplished by willpower alone. God gives His Spirit to empower believers to grow in holiness.

10. Remember that wondering leads to wandering.

Satan is the master deceiver, and plants doubt in the mind and heart. He did it with Eve by asking her to question what God really said or meant. He creates a discontented spirit and makes us believe God owes us something or is holding back something we deserve.

Why do the wicked prosper is a question that has troubled many Bible writers. Read Jeremiah 12:1; Psalm 73:3-12; and Job 21:7-9. Discontentment is built on a faulty view of God. He has provided everything we need for our current happiness, no more, no less.

Final Thoughts:

In contrast to Demas, Paul’s life ended with these words, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8-9).

I think we can all admit that we are prone to wander. Prone to leave the God I love. Let us purpose to not allow our hearts to veer away; here is my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.