Bill was used to handling heavy equipment, but he wasn't used to what happened that particular day. He had his trailer hitched to his dump truck and he was driving his backhoe onto the trailer, but there was one small problem. As the weight of Bill and his backhoe pressed on the back of the trailer, the rear wheels of the dump truck were suddenly lifted up into the air - which means no brakes on a downhill slope. He was riding on a backhoe which was riding on a trailer, which was hitched to a truck that was heading straight downhill out-of-control. He had absolutely no control. He lived to tell about it because he threw that backhoe in reverse and backed off as fast as he could. Balance was restored and the truck and trailer jackknifed.
That had to be one scary feeling - no brakes and racing downhill, out-of-control. It's a feeling too many of us know all too well. We're faced with one of those temptations that pull at us so hard. Many people today are losing their brakes, spiritually or morally. You're losing control and headed for a crash.
You're in the greatest danger if you're slipping and you can't even see it. Satan seldom destroys us through explosion; instead, he does it through erosion - just slowly getting you to compromise a little bit more, to lower your guard, and to get closer and closer to the flame. Maybe it's getting harder and harder to resist what you know is wrong. Your brakes are slipping, and you can be sure the Biblical equation will prove tragically correct in your life. James 1:15 says, "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
If you're starting to lose control and your downhill slide is accelerating, you have to do what Bill did to save himself - back out fast! In the Word of God is a powerful example of the action that is going to save you a lot of scars and a lot of shame. Joseph was taken as a slave to Egypt where he earns the top position in the household of a powerful official. One day he is faced with the mega-temptation of a beautiful woman just offering herself to him. It was his master's wife!
In Genesis 39, beginning with verse 7, the Bible says, "After a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, 'Come to bed with me!' But he refused." That was hard enough, but this woman was there every day! God tells us the very practical secret for putting on the brakes. It goes on to say in verse 10, "Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her." Joseph remained pure by totally backing away from the source of his temptation.
That's what it's going to take for you, too. Think about what it is or who it is that's pulling you away from God's best and weakening your resistance to sin. You have to back out fast - out of that relationship, out of that group of people, out of that music, out of those things you've been reading or watching, out of those Internet sites, or out of those fantasies. You have to start fleeing the evil that you have been flirting with and avoiding the temptation that you've been reaching for, because it's all downhill from here. A crash is where this goes unless you back out now.