Hebrews 2

“We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.  For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding, and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”  Hebrews 2:1-3a (HCSB)

One of my friends used to own a home on Lake Michigan.  In the summers, my family would drive over to their house to ride jet skis.

Lake Michigan has waves and moods, just like an ocean.  It’s not as much a lake as it is an inland sea.  It ebbs and flows.  At times, it can be quite treacherous.  Many large ships have sunk in Lake Michigan storms.  Gordon Lightfoot’s song, “The Wreck of The Edmond Fitzgerald,” is about one such Lake Michigan shipwreck.

One summer afternoon, I was pretty far out in the lake when I decided to jump off my “water hog” and swim around a bit.  No big deal, I just hopped into the lake.  Very quickly, my jet ski began drifting away.  I had to paddle like crazy and was almost completely exhausted before I caught it!

It can be that way sometimes with the gospel.  When we turn our attention away from the gospel, we quickly drift away.  That is why Godly community is so important.  Hanging around worldly people to minister to them is important.  But a steady diet of worldliness will dull your sensitivity to sin.  Often, we don’t even realize it.  

Have you known people who have drifted away from the church community?  Have you been one of those people?  I have.  

We know we are drifting when we begin to feel uncomfortable around fully devoted believers.  Their proximity makes us feel convicted because of the difference in their attitudes and lifestyles, exposing our sin.  Those awkward encounters are gifts from the Lord because true believers cannot find sustained joy outside of Godly fellowship with other believers.

We must keep a sharp spiritual focus.  If we drift from the life Jesus calls us to, we neglect the parameters He has set up to protect us.  When we disengage from spiritual community, we risk becoming completely disenfranchised.  This is how Satan picks us off one by one.

If we reject the Lord’s provision, especially that of salvation through faith in Jesus, there are always negative consequences.  If we neglect God’s grace, how will we escape our just punishment?  Praise the Lord that salvation is offered freely to all who would turn from their sin and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior!