Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (v. 1, ESV)

The Hebrew’s author is warning us not to drift from the truths about Jesus he just mentioned in chapter 1. Some of them are:

• “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.”
• “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
• “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands…”

Drifting from these truths puts us in danger of the shipwreck of our faith—our relationship with Him.

Today we are not talking about this drastic type of drifting but rather our common life experience of wondering how we arrived where we are. We had wanted to stay or go in another direction, but we now find ourselves in a place we did not set out to be.

It is too easy for us to drift. Our reading eyes can progress over words while our minds are thinking of something else. How does that happen? I am serious in my time while praying and suddenly discover I am thinking about yesterday’s “whatever.” Drifting is a human malady; we all do it. Can we do something about it?

The writer of Hebrews warns his readers that knowing the truth and continuing to embrace it is a Holy Spirit/believer activity. While facing the challenges of life, we can be tempted to focus on long-term or short-term problems (or both!) and fall into the doldrums when we could be focused on our innate resources to meet the issues.

Beginning each day acknowledging the Spirit’s presence in our lives is a good start that declares our expectations. Practicing the presence of our Lord as our day goes along is a bulwark against falling into the rut of “how come,” “why,” “if only”— you get the implications—and it keeps us from DRIFTING.

The Hebrew and Greek words we translate as spirit mean wind or breath. The Spirit’s “wind” is available, but we have to set our sails to propel us in the desired direction. May the Spirit’s breath/wind put wind in our sails as we stop drifting and arrive at our desired destination. As a child of God, our undergirding resource is the Holy Spirit. He is knocking on our door.

Tomorrow we will read more from Hebrews 2 to discover how we can damper our drifting.

Author: Richard Lawson

Other Lenten readings for today:

• Psalm 31:9-16
• Isaiah 53:10-12