Pastor’s Corner: “The Drift”
Hebrews 2:1 (NIV) – Warning to Pay Attention – We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
When I go to the beach with my family, we love to go boogie boarding. I am always a little bit surprised at the power of the current and how far we can drift from our original starting point. After about ten or fifteen minutes of surfing the waves, we look up and find ourselves far down the beach. We have to exit the water and hike back up to our towels, chairs and umbrella. We have to do this over and over lest we drift too far away and lose track of where started. The current is one of those forces that is at work under the surface, unseen. No matter what is going on with the waves on the surface, the current is at work slowly pulling you away. We can stay so focused on the waves and miss that we are drifting far away from our starting point.
Our spiritual walk with God is a lot like this. The enemy loves to pull us away from our Lord and Savior as well as our loved ones and he does this in subtle and unseen ways. We can be so focused on what is right in front of us with the distractions of life that we are unaware that we have drifted far the original joy of our salvation. Drifting is something that happens over time. It’s slow and steady, almost imperceptible. It can happen so gradually in fact that it goes without notice. And it is not a boogie board that we are talking about but our hearts that are drifting away from the Lord and our loved ones. We have the tendency to drift. And the real problem with drifting spiritually is that you don’t know it has happening until it’s already happened.
Hebrews 2:1 warns us to pay attention to what we have heard to keep us from drifting. Who are you listening to? Holy Spirit which brings life, or the enemy who slowly draws us away towards death? How to know the difference?
The Spirit infuses love, the devil accuses with shame. Romans 8:16 – The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
God draws us near, the devil pushes us lonely into fear. Psalm 34:4 – “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”
The Spirit hands out an invitation, the devil speaks accusations. The Spirit invites us to life-change and liberation while the devil invites us to death. II Corinthians 3:1 – Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
The Spirit makes us new, the devil makes us dwell in the old. The Spirit works in the now, the devil reinforces yesterday. II Corinthians 3:6 – He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant–not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Spirit speaks correction, the devil speaks destruction. The Spirit reinforces the Word of Life, while the devil rips it apart, reworks it and denies it to suit his needs to destroy us. John 16:8 – When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.
The Spirit reveals, the devil steals. I Corinthians 2:10 – These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
The devil reminds us how bad we were, the Spirit reminds us of how secure and significant we are by His grace. Ephesians 2:8 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Who have you been listening to? These certainly aren’t the only ways to tell if you’re drifting spiritually. However, I think they are some good checkpoints in our journey of faith to help us examine where we are in our walk with Jesus. Have you been drifting and did not even know it? If we pay close attention to what we have heard and who we are listening to, we can avoid unintentionally drifting from God.
May our Lord and Savior bless you deeply,
Pastor Hamilton