Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.Hebrews 2:1
Drifting away is always gradual. No one wanders far starts a few steps from home. The Christian life that lost its efficacy didn’t just happen in an instant. A powerless life didn’t just occur without that gentle draft of indifference. There is that little neglect in the study of the Word of God. There is that little disregard of prayer. There is that little absence in the fellowship with the brethren. Before he knows it, he is far at sea away from shore and safety. To live away from the coastline, far from God, is living dangerously. It is an aimless existence, a life tossed by the waves of fate at the mercy of the elements. Like a plant with no roots, this kind of life has no hold. The sun scorches it by day; the wind blows it mercilessly; it dries up so quickly.
The Word of God reminds us to pay attention, to take heed so that complacency and negligence will not pull us away from Him. These are not new ideas but it is the understanding of the old one.
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Psalms 119:4, 10
The Promises of God, His Word, are the anchor points attached in the Immovable Rock, who is Jesus Christ, holding us strong and sure that prevents us from drifting. If our life is a boat, then our anchor is the faith held firm by the Words of God which are the anchor points attached in the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ our Lord. The embrace of the Lord is so strong. When He holds us by the hand, He enfolding grasp is firm. No one can pluck us out from His hand, only unless we let go and wander off. Dark and evil, this present world is; only in Him can we find security, hope, joy, and confidence even in the world to come.
If we remain in Him then, can any storm assail us? Can any billows so strong assault us to fear? Will worries overwhelm us? Shall financial troubles bring us sleepless nights? When difficulties come, will we run away from Him or run towards Him?
During storms of doubt, we are rest assured that we have a faithful God. He had been faithful in ages past. In the life of saints in the former times, He had been unchanging. In our present, He remained the same, in His works, in His deeds, and in His promises.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.Lam 3:23
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Ps 119:90
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,Ps 92:2
The finished work of Jesus Christ in Calvary showed us the assurance of Salvation. This above all is the proof of the faithfulness of God.
The Consequences of Drifting Away
King Solomon, at Israel’s peak, found futility in its entire splendor. He built palaces, gardens, projects of beauty. He immersed himself in the search of wisdom, gathered up treasures beyond measure, met adulation and esteemed highly by those who knew him yet he mourned at the pointlessness of it all.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.Ecclesiastes 1:2
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.Ecclesiastes 11:8
Jeremiah shocked by grief at the rubble of Jerusalem found futility in it. He mourned in it. His cry filled the pages in one of the books of the Bible.
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.Lamentation 1:2-3
And yet through it all he found light amidst the darkness of his present experience, he discovered God’s character shine – that God is faithful.
It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.Lamentation 3:22-26
Jesus Christ calls of us to come to Him. Only through Him can we find meaning in life. He will cast away futility in our life and shed light in our darkened world.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Matthew 11:28-30
Even the great ones failed. Moses had problems with anger. Abraham lied few times when asked about his wife. David, in a moment of passion, committed adultery and the consequent murder of Uriah. Jonah ran away willfully from God’s command. But God, through His mercies, didn’t fail us. When we’re unfaithful, He remained faithful. When we’re faithless, He sustained us by His strength. There is no sensible reason for us drifting away from Him, it’s just plain injudicious and absurd.
When we are not yet far from Him, let us return to God. Let us not harden our hearts, while there is still light let us walk in the light. When we can still see our path, let us not waste time returning to arms of God. Like the father of the prodigal son, we can find Him waiting for us. There’s no way we can find joy, satisfaction, sound mind, peace and love apart from Him. Let us revisit our first love with God. You will not regret it.
Drifting away is always gradual. No one wanders far starts a few steps from home. The Christian life that lost its efficacy didn’t just happen in an instant. A powerless life didn’t just occur without that gentle draft of indifference. There is that little neglect in the study of the Word of God. There is that little disregard of prayer. There is that little absence in the fellowship with the brethren. Before he knows it, he is far at sea away from shore and safety. To live away from the coastline, far from God, is living dangerously. It is an aimless existence, a life tossed by the waves of fate at the mercy of the elements. Like a plant with no roots, this kind of life has no hold. The sun scorches it by day; the wind blows it mercilessly; it dries up so quickly.
The Word of God reminds us to pay attention, to take heed so that complacency and negligence will not pull us away from Him. These are not new ideas but it is the understanding of the old one.
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Psalms 119:4, 10
The Promises of God, His Word, are the anchor points attached in the Immovable Rock, who is Jesus Christ, holding us strong and sure that prevents us from drifting. If our life is a boat, then our anchor is the faith held firm by the Words of God which are the anchor points attached in the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ our Lord. The embrace of the Lord is so strong. When He holds us by the hand, He enfolding grasp is firm. No one can pluck us out from His hand, only unless we let go and wander off. Dark and evil, this present world is; only in Him can we find security, hope, joy, and confidence even in the world to come.
If we remain in Him then, can any storm assail us? Can any billows so strong assault us to fear? Will worries overwhelm us? Shall financial troubles bring us sleepless nights? When difficulties come, will we run away from Him or run towards Him?
During storms of doubt, we are rest assured that we have a faithful God. He had been faithful in ages past. In the life of saints in the former times, He had been unchanging. In our present, He remained the same, in His works, in His deeds, and in His promises.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.Lam 3:23
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Ps 119:90
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,Ps 92:2
The finished work of Jesus Christ in Calvary showed us the assurance of Salvation. This above all is the proof of the faithfulness of God.
The Consequences of Drifting Away
- Inept, Unusable Life
King Solomon, at Israel’s peak, found futility in its entire splendor. He built palaces, gardens, projects of beauty. He immersed himself in the search of wisdom, gathered up treasures beyond measure, met adulation and esteemed highly by those who knew him yet he mourned at the pointlessness of it all.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.Ecclesiastes 1:2
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.Ecclesiastes 11:8
Jeremiah shocked by grief at the rubble of Jerusalem found futility in it. He mourned in it. His cry filled the pages in one of the books of the Bible.
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.Lamentation 1:2-3
And yet through it all he found light amidst the darkness of his present experience, he discovered God’s character shine – that God is faithful.
It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.Lamentation 3:22-26
Jesus Christ calls of us to come to Him. Only through Him can we find meaning in life. He will cast away futility in our life and shed light in our darkened world.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Matthew 11:28-30
- Life of Failure
- The woman at the well at Sychar failed in her romances. Married five times and living with a man not her husband, at the time she met the Savior.
- The thief, hanging on the cross, failed miserable in his life. He wasted it in petty crimes that ended him at the execution block.
- The prodigal son wasted his inheritance and his life in riotous living. He could have done much with it if he had made right choices.
Even the great ones failed. Moses had problems with anger. Abraham lied few times when asked about his wife. David, in a moment of passion, committed adultery and the consequent murder of Uriah. Jonah ran away willfully from God’s command. But God, through His mercies, didn’t fail us. When we’re unfaithful, He remained faithful. When we’re faithless, He sustained us by His strength. There is no sensible reason for us drifting away from Him, it’s just plain injudicious and absurd.
- Death
When we are not yet far from Him, let us return to God. Let us not harden our hearts, while there is still light let us walk in the light. When we can still see our path, let us not waste time returning to arms of God. Like the father of the prodigal son, we can find Him waiting for us. There’s no way we can find joy, satisfaction, sound mind, peace and love apart from Him. Let us revisit our first love with God. You will not regret it.