Hebrews Chapter 2, verse 1: 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.
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Two men were fishing in a small boat and they concentrated so much on what they were doing that neither of them realized that they had drifted – and due to that drifting downstream they both died.
There is great danger in drifting. If we sit in a boat and don’t use and anchor or don’t tie the boat to something the boat will easily drift. But it is easy to be fooled into thinking that the boat is not even moving. Note that we can only drift downstream and it takes an effort to go upstream.
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This also applies to our lives. We can drift from God by being distracted by other people, events, occasions, talk, opinions, attitudes, old opinions, peers, the crowd, and for many other reasons. Drifting requires no effort at all, we simply let the currents pull us along and we don’t resist, we just go with the flow. But take heed here because with aimless drifting the boat will crash. And if we aimlessly drift from God don’t be surprised if you too crash.
We need to pay attention to everything happening around us at all times and don’t let our guard down. Even if we are a good person we can drift – this is why we need the laws of God as well as being a good person to keep us on the straight and narrow path. Just being good is not enough. All teenagers started out as good children and then many may drift. It is a fact that many churches lose teenagers because at school or with peers in society they get distracted and drift off course to hard times and tragedy. Faith is going with God and paddling upstream, and that takes commitment, effort and a will to want better for our life.
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2 Peter Chapter 1, verses 4-8:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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We are a work in constant progress and we should be happily working to add to our faith everyday. Like paddling upstream we must remain focused and not let people and things distract us from what we first set out to do by following Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth and the way to true life. To add to our faith we must work on our grace for others who have done wrong or done us wrong, always being graceful as God is graceful to us. We can work on our being patient, to have charity, doing good deeds when no one is looking and secretly rejoicing in the happiness the other person receives from our kind efforts. Temperance-self control of our mind and body need working on, and empathy and love.
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2 Peter Chapter 3, verse 18:
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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You and I must realize that once we start to drift that the speed increases once we are drifting downhill until it is often too late or it will be a great struggle getting back to where we were. So do be aware of what’s going on around you at all times or you may find yourself off the rails and hurdling downhill to a different path than you expected. When things may look exciting we may rush in with everyone else and to our surprise find that we are going in a direction we hadn’t expected to be on.
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Proverbs Chapter 14, verse 14:
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
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The backslider will fill their head with their own attitudes, old beliefs, pride and refusal to submit to God anymore. The boat that drifts ends in a shipwreck because a drifting boat is not under control and it aimlessly wanders until it hits something, and often with devastating results.
Drifting or backsliding away from God brings misery. When the boat drifts it can hit other boats and other boats may follow that path and be led astray. We should be a good example for our families and children. Drifting is going with the flow, we need faith and trust and direction to keep on that safe narrow path of life that Christ showed us.
But also be aware that it can be our family that will lead us away from God. Our spiritual family is with God.
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Ephesians Chapter 6, verse 4: And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
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1 Timothy Chapter 1, verse 19: Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
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The Signs Of Drifting:
A loss of desire to read one’s Bible.
When we lose the desire to follow God.
If we allow others to guide us away from God.
If we allow others to speak bad of God and we laugh with them.
Have we stopped praying, or have our prayers become boring and we don’t feel that they are of any worth.
We may find a new thrill in the ways of the world and want to be more active with old friends again following their ways as they drift through life.
We may allow others to show us that their ways are correct and not put up a fight.
The old ways may seem more attractive once again and we start to become excited about going out with the crowd once again.
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The Remedy:
We need to get back to the basics again. We need to think about why we followed God in the first place. We need to see Jesus in our mind as we once did in the past. We need to be strong in our faith once again not letting other peoples opinions lead us astray.
The answer is to keep trying, keep rowing, remember what Jesus did for us. Think of love. Think of God and living to help others. If we sit still we may drift and find ourselves lost once again as we were before we found Christ.
We need to watch out for those undercurrents or waves that can sneak up on us and then we are gone, lost, shocked and amazed that we have drifted deep out to sea to drown. Go against the tide and keep rowing and ignore peer pressures, stay strong and courageous and your day will come for God will me pleased with you. We remained strong once so we can do it again.
Drifting is real and dangerous. Take heed and be wise, protect yourself against the ways of evil doings.
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All the best from
James M Sandbrook.
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February 17, 2013.