Spiritual Drift
Hebrews 2:1-4
We must pay the most careful attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it.
“Our minds and memories are like a leaky vessel, they do not without much care retain what is poured into them.” ~Matthew Henry
I’m no maritime expert, but from what I comprehend, it is very easy to drift at sea. The instruction manual looks something like this:
- Do nothing.
- Repeat.
And the sea will take you wherever it chooses. Pretty simple. Pretty easy. It’s just that you may not like where it takes you.
It is easy to drift in life, from God. Just do nothing about it. Do not pursue God or get to know Him more deeply. Ignore the voice of the Spirit, ignore Scripture, ignore other Christ-followers……repeat.
The sea in this particular metaphor, of course, is the world’s system and ways that are not God’s ways. There’s a saying, “If you don’t program your mind, the world will gladly do it for you.” I think of what would happen if I did not do my best to model and teach the ways of God to our two daughters. If I just let whoever they run into–internet, movies, corporations, religious people (the ungodly kind), etc.–teach them the ways of life and the world and God. What if I did nothing? If I did not pay careful attention to the task of fathering? Well, they would probably grow up to be big butt-holes. Yes, I said that.
Same with ourselves. If we’re not training ourselves in godliness in some manner and degree, do we think we’re gonna get miraculously filled with the truth and presence of God somehow? That someone will gently approach us in our sleep and put that big Matrix tube thing in our head and download it for us so we don’t have to do any work?
For many, we give God our leftovers, never the main meal.
We must pay super careful attention to what we’ve heard from Jesus. He has shown us the truth of God like no one else ever has. This is the message of Hebrews. And if that is true, it has huge implications.
“Many drift because they lack a solid grasp on commitment and personal responsibility. This problem is exacerbated in Western culture by the concurrent, contradictory longings for both autonomy and status as victim.”
-George Guthrie
“Whatever causes us to overcome all hindrances is handsomely rewarded when we break through to the glorious sunshine of His blessed presence.” -A.W. Tozer
In the Name of Jesus,
Soli Deo Gloria
