Nailed to the Cross, Again

...

"For how can those who fall away be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light. They tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit.

"They knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age.

"And then they fell away! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross once more and exposing Him to public shame."

- Hebrews 6:4-6 (TEV)


What a terrible, terrible reality! I read these verses a few days ago (they were quoted in a spiritual book I'm reading) and I haven't really been able to put them from my mind. Every time I'm about to succumb to habitual sin, these three lines come at me from out of the mist, and more often than not, with a bit of effort and a silent prayer, I am able to get back on the narrow path.

But how haunting is that last verse to any true believer!