Forfeiting Your Place

The world says, "You snooze, you lose."  God's adage would be a little different. More like, "You refuse, you lose."
Today's question is, 'Can you lose your place?' And the answer is, 'No, but you can surely throw it away.' 

Example #1 Esau
Maybe you are familiar with the story from Genesis 25:29-34 where Esau, the firstborn, sells his birthright to his younger brother, Jacob, for a bowl of red meat stew. Granted, Esau was quite hungry and truly exhausted, but when Jacob wanted to barter the stew he'd cooked for his brother's claim on the family legacy, Esau says, "I'm about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?" The story ends with, "Thus Esau despised his birthright."
Jacob went on to be one of the patriarchs of the Jews. Centuries later, Esau's choice is recorded in the New Testament writings, "…lest there be a profane person, as Esau, who in exchange for one morsel of food did sell his birthright, for you know that even afterwards, when he wished to secure the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no opportunity for undoing what he had done, though he sought the blessing earnestly with tears." Hebrews 12:16, 17.
Esau came to his senses later on, but by then it was too late to get back what he had chosen to throw away.

Example #2 Judas
Don't get mixed up in your preconceptions and typecasting. Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, had a choice. He was chosen as one of the twelve. He had the position of the treasurer of the group. Compared with some of the other disciples, we don't read about much interaction between him and Jesus. But when we do, it is curious that Judas called him by the title "rabbi" instead of "Lord." This would indicate that, like Esau, he did not really value the position that he had; he acknowledged his boss as a teacher, but we do not have a record where he gave Jesus credit as Messiah.
Many Bible scholars think that Judas started out hoping that Jesus would be the Messiah who would overthrow Rome; then Judas would have a high position in the new government. They posit that Judas reasoned that since Jesus would not start a rebellion against Rome, He was not the anticipated Messiah. It is quite possible that, despite all the contrary evidence before him, that Satan whispered to Judas, played on his doubts about who Jesus was, and convinced him that since Jesus isn't really the Messiah, he would be "doing the right thing" by turning Jesus over to the Pharisees and that the 30 pieces of silver would be well earned compensation rather than the blood money it was.
God had foreknowledge that Judas would be the betrayer, but Judas made his own freewill choice. He sought out the Pharisees and had made all the arrangements before he became demon possessed. cf John 13:27.

These men did not "Oops!" lose their position through making an accidental slip, during a bout of depression, or by a having a panic attack. They threw it away because they did not respect what God had done for them, they did not value the position God had placed them in, nor did they have regard for the consequences of their action. They made a conscious choice to forfeit the blessing that would have come by honoring God. They did it all by themselves.

The Lesson
KatieLyn had been shown an abundance of evidence that God was putting her together with Joe, just as Judas was shown the miracle evidence that Jesus was who He claimed to be, but they became blind to truth that is seen with the eyes of the spirit. And yes, the devil tempted her, just as Esau was first worn down with hunger and fatigue, KatieLyn was worn down by the fights her mom provoked; and they both made the decision to find immediate relief for the flesh rather than honor the inheritance God was providing. Falling away from Christ is the fruit of choosing the relief of the flesh, over and above the blessing of God and the heavenly inheritance. KatieLyn knew she was falling away from Jesus, but she blamed that on Joe. Actually, she was falling away from Jesus because she was entertaining thoughts that did not line up with what God had previously revealed to her. She refused to value the blessing God was offering and chose to forfeit God's place for her.