1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,
3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.—The words of the writer of the Book of Hebrews from Hebrews 2:1-4
“Pay attention, class!”
Everyone remembers a teacher somewhere along the pathway of early education calling the class to order with those words. When the teacher gave this admonition you knew that she would next say something important.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews uses this same technique to grab our attention in the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post.
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
The word picture describes someone who very slowly moves farther and farther away from some critical point. In my mind, I see a very calm body of water on which a single leaf from a nearby tree has fallen to rest. The water is so calm that not one single ripple appears on the surface. But, slowly over time, the leaf moves away from the point where it first came in contact with the water. It drifts away.
Sadly that sometimes happens to followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. When they first became aware of the great gift God has given them—through the miraculous, redeeming, and life-transforming power of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus—they felt great joy, peace, and more than a little excitment. Now, over time, their first ardor has cooled and they have begun to drift away.
Maybe they have become wounded by their involvement with church. That happens far more often than you might imagine. In a recent sermon, I spoke these words:
Pain and church involvement go together more than most believers ever care to admit. Volunteer a certain number of hours to sing in the choir, usher, keep the church books, be a youth sponsor, work in the nursery, run the church library—name a hundred such roles if you want—and soon you’re liable to feel very much unappreciated, or you’ll have to deal with complaints, or you’ll have your motives judged, or you’ll be taken advantage of, or you’ll be criticized.
The truth is, it doesn’t take too much negative treatment or too many negative words to hurt people’s feelings in the kind of work one does within a church. As a result, many people simply stop serving, or change congregations, or quit altogether. In church work, sticks and stones aren’t necessary to break people’s bones—gossip, nasty comments, even ill-timed remarks can often do it!
Maybe they have found that their struggle with besetting sins takes far more effort than they ever imagined. Yes, they’ve heard testimonies from others of miraculous changes brought about by the Holy Spirit that have delivered those testifying from besetting sins in what seemed like an instant of time. But that has not been what they’ve experienced. Every day they pray, asking God to remove the temptation to commit whatever “signature sin”—that sin that seems to have their name on it—but the temptations keep coming. More often than not they yield and fall back into the same old pattern of sin. Eventually, they decide it’s easier to just walk away from God and His church. At least they can remove the constant reminder of what a failure they have become in their spiritual lives.
Or, maybe...
We’ll you get the point. There can be a dozen or more reasons why someone who once seemed overflowing with the joy of the Lord has now drifted away from Him and from His body of believers, the church.
This is precisely the point the writer of the Book of Hebrews intends to make in this passage.
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Okay. Pay attention to what? Pay attention to the message of salvation through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this one glorious act of attonement, Jesus bore the penalty of all of our sins. Every single sin has become covered by His precious blood. Once we accept the reality of what He has done for us, we begin a spiritual journey that continues the rest of our lives. Drifting away is a choice—a conscious choice that we make. We need not make that choice!
Instead we can devote ourselves to the study of Scripture through reading our Bible every day. We can devote ourselves to prayer. We can become aware of how God has His hand on our lives by looking for evidences of His presence. We can learn to rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit to keep us on the spiritual pathway that He has laid out for us. We can become more involved in fellowship with other believers, so we might encourage one another along our spiritual journeys.
Holiness does not have to stand as some far away dream that one longs for but can never obtain. Holiness can become a beautiful, self-sustaining, fulfilling, joyful pursuit that leads to a life full of God’s richest blessings—blessings that can overshadow any trials, disappointments, or cares of this life.
I encourage you to heed the admonition of the writer of the Book of Hebrews. Let’s make a conscious decision to “pay more careful attention” and draw strength from the very God who loves us and wants the very best for us in this life and in the life to come.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Precious Father, we ask you to help us pay more careful attention to the truth of such a great salvation. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, make the reality of Christ’s presence in our lives so apparent that we will draw strength and encouragement from that reality. Keep us on the pathway You have laid out for us. Lead us, guide us, protect us, care for us, and love us. We feel overwhelmed with gratitude when we recognize that, before the foundation of the earth, You called us to belong to You.
We thank You, Gracious Father, for hearing our prayer in and through the powerful Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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