Do Not Drift Away: Why Listening Carefully to God’s Salvation Matters

Summary

This article warns believers about the danger of spiritual drifting. Using an athletic illustration, it shows how drifting feels natural but undermines effectiveness. Hebrews urges careful listening to God’s unchanging message of salvation. Familiarity can dull devotion, but intentional attention keeps the gospel central. God confirmed Jesus’ message through miracles and the Spirit. Ignoring this great salvation carries serious consequences, making vigilant listening essential for faithfulness and life.

When Listening Fades After Familiarity

Husbands have a reputation for not listening when their wives speak. Somehow, the boyfriend who hangs on every word becomes the husband, who might as well be deaf. Marriage transforms a doting boyfriend into someone who remembers nothing she says.

We laugh at husbands’ foibles, but the writer of Hebrews warns us that not listening to the truth and slipping away from God’s great salvation has serious consequences. Drifting away is the danger.

Drifting Illustrated Through Athletics

I frequently tell the shot put and discus throwers I coach that they are drifting.  Drifting occurs, for example, when right-handed discus throwers transfer weight to their left leg in the front of the throwing circle long before they release the discus.

Doing so prevents them from channeling the strength of their whole body into the throw. Only their upper body launches the discus. They must learn to ride their right leg and foot with their weight in the circle’s center and not slide forward prematurely.

Here’s the point. Drifting is virtually automatic for beginning throwers. Everyone does it initially. It is natural, but no world-class discus thrower does what’s natural and drifts.

Why Spiritual Drifting Feels Normal

Drifting away from God’s great salvation is also natural when its excitement and newness fade. We gradually take it for granted. The best news ever becomes old news and loses its luster. It drifts to the periphery of our lives. Living for ourselves constantly presses to become central. We compromise repeatedly until the main thing is no longer the main thing.

God’s Remedy for Spiritual Drift

God’s solution is to listen to the truth with utmost care and keep it central in our lives. Treat it as a silver sugar bowl to be polished every day.

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose” (Hebrews 2:1-4 NLT).

Why Jesus’ Message Never Changes

The authoritative directions for how my wife should do her job were communicated through emails and changed regularly. The operating procedures for March changed in May and again in July. They continued to evolve. Keeping up with the frequent changes made work more stressful for her and her co-workers.

By contrast, Jesus’s authoritative directions concerning how people must relate to God have not changed in 2,000 years. Those who heard Him speak reliably delivered them. God demonstrated the validity of their message through signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. We must grasp and hold on to their message like a drowning man who can’t swim clutches a life preserver thrown to him.

Do Not Drift Away from the Great Salvation

The writer compared the old agreement between God and Israel with the new one Jesus instituted. Every violation of the first, delivered by angels, was punished. All who ignore the great salvation the second promised, which the Lord Jesus himself delivered, will experience the same consequences. Do not drift away.

It is wise for husbands to pay closer attention to what their wives say. But ignoring the great salvation that Jesus announced is irredeemably foolish.

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