Drifting

It is written:

“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1).

Within the original Greek of this passage is a powerful picture that we need to consider. Barclay writes:

“In the first verse, there may be an even more vivid picture than there is in the translation which we have used. The two key words are prosechein and pararrein. We have taken prosechein to mean to pay attention to, which is one of its most common meanings. Pararrein is a word of many meanings. It is used of something flowing or slipping past; it can be used of a ring that has slipped off the finger, of a particle of food that has slipped down the wrong way, of a topic that has slipped into the conversation, of a point which has escaped someone in the course of an argument, of some fact that has slipped out of the mind, of something that has ebbed or leaked away. It is regularly used of something which has carelessly or thoughtlessly been allowed to become lost. But both these words also have a nautical sense. Prosechein can mean to moor a ship; and pararrein can be used of a ship which has been carelessly allowed to slip past a harbour or a haven because the captain has forgotten to allow for the wind or the current or the tide. So, this first verse could be very vividly translated: ‘Therefore, we must the more eagerly anchor our lives to the things that we have been taught in case the ship of life should drift past the harbour and be wrecked.’ It is a vivid picture of a ship drifting to destruction because the pilot is asleep. For most of us, the threat of life is not so much that we should plunge into disaster but that we should drift into sin. There are few people who, deliberately and in a moment, turn their backs on God; there are many who day by day drift further and further away from him. There are not many who in one moment of time commit some disastrous sin; there are many who almost imperceptibly involve themselves in some situation and suddenly awake to find that they have ruined life for themselves and broken someone else’s heart. We must be continually on the alert against the peril of drifting in life.” (William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letter To The Hebrews, 25 (Kindle Edition); Louisville, KY; Westminster John Knox Press)

When we find ourselves “drifting” away from God and the life which He calls us to, we need to get back on course. We do this by repenting of whatever sin is leading us from Him and by fixing our gaze firmly on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Are you sailing safely toward the harbor of Heaven? Or are you drifting toward destruction?