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Drifting Away From God

When I was younger, we used to ride down the river during the summer on inner tubes. It was a fun relaxing trip navigating the miles of rocks, trees and periodically, eddies. Sometimes, if we weren’t careful, we would find ourselves drifting into some rocky rapids.

Drifting is a deadly thing in the Christian life. And the remedy to it, according to Hebrews 1, is, “Pay close attention to what you have heard.” That is, consider what God is saying in his Son Jesus. Fix your eyes on what God is saying and doing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This is not a hard stroke to learn so that we can swim against the stream of sin and indifference. The only thing that keeps us from swimming like this is our sinful desire to float with other interests.

You see, I think sometimes we look at the Christian life as hard work. But I want you to understand something, fixing our eyes isn’t what you would call a hard job description. It is not a job description. It is a invitation to be satisfied in Jesus so that we do not get lured downstream by deceitful desires. Our “Job” is to be satisfied with the love of God.

One of the most powerful words you will ever hear is the simple prayer in Psalm 90:14, “O satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” That is our “job” as Christians: being satisfied in the morning with the love of God spoken to us in the Son of God, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days—and so be free from the deceitfulness of downriver desires.

It is easy for us to forget and drift away from the promises found in the Word of God. In Hebrews 2, verses 2 and 3a tell us why this is so dangerous. “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

Failing to pay close attention to God’s Word and the drifting away that results is described in verse 3 as “neglecting a great salvation.” And this is said to be extremely dangerous.

Drifting happens to all of us. But the mark of the true child of God is that that he does not drift for long. If you are drifting, one of the signs of hope that you are a Christian is that you feel conviction when you are drifting. There is an innate desire to return to where you once were. On the other hand, one of the signs that you may not be a Christian is that you feel no desire to guard against drifting or turn back.

So, as always in the Bible, God graciously is giving us in this book positive and negative incentives to embrace our great salvation and listen to the great Saviour. We need to be careful not to take this great gift and the Giver for granted. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” How we do that is by paying attention to this Word and fixing our eyes on Him!

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