Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to things we have heard, lest we drift away. Hebrews 2:1
This verse shows us that our Christian walk is like swimming upstream in a flowing river: if we are not focused on moving forward, then we are drifting backwards.
This is a simple truth that is understood easily in the world. For example if you are a body builder you must always be training; once you stop you begin to lose muscle mass. If you speak a second language you must speak that language regularly or you will lose it; and if you want to be especially proficient then you must use it and study it that much more. How much of Algebra II do you remember? Probably not much if you’ve been out of High School for a few years and haven’t studied it recently.
If it is important to pay careful attention to earthly things, how much more important is it to give attention to the things that God has taught us. We need to remind ourselves continually of what God has done for us and what God has taught us or else we will forget; and when we forget we will begin to slip away.
It seems impossible that people would forget the good things that God has done, but it happens all the time. I can admit that sometimes I forget some of the incredible things that God has done in my life and I have to go back and remind myself how God has been faithful. But not everybody takes the time to remember. The children of Israel saw some of the most amazing miracles that mankind has ever experienced, yet somehow they still managed to forget about God and turn to evil things.
They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. Ps 78:10-11
They forgot about how God delivered them from Egypt. They forgot about how God parted the Red Sea and how they had walked through on dry ground. They forgot about how God supplied them manna in the desert. They forget how God delivered them from all of their enemies. And instead of thanking God for all He had done, they complained.
We need to take certain precautions lest we also drift away. Don’t think that just because God has done something great in your life that you could never drift away. No, you need to stay on guard at all times. The enemy will use subtle tricks to cause you to cast away your confidence, even after God has done something remarkable in your life. I’ve seen it time and time again. It breaks my heart.
One way we can help to keep ourselves from drifting away is to always make sure we are attending church. The book of Hebrews says:
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. Heb 10:25 NLT
Make church a priority in your life. It shouldn’t be a question of wether or not you are going to church. You shouldn’t miss a Sunday except for a really good reason. As soon as the devil can keep you out of church, the sooner you’ll begin to drift. You need the encouragement of other believers, you need the word that strengthens your faith. Missing church because you need to mow the grass or weed the garden is a sorry, sorry excuse. It won’t go over well on judgement day, I can assure you.
But we need to do more than just go to church. This verse says to give “earnest heed” to things we have heard. This implies much more than just attending church. It implies that we take God’s word seriously and devote time to it. It implies that we expend energy to think and ponder the things that the Lord has spoken. It also implies that we put into action the things that we hear. We don’t want to be like the man who builds his house upon the sand. This was the man that drifted away when the storm came. But let’s be like the man that builds his house upon the rock. The rock is sturdy; it’s not going anywhere. The water can beat against that house, but it will not drift and it will not fall!
Hal Chaffee 