Drift Away

I haven't been around in a few days.

I've finished reading the book of Hebrews...but obviously I haven't written much about it.

I got busy, you know, doing stuff like laundry and cooking dinner and driving my kids to school, and the library, and to Target to buy gym clothes.

The normal stuff that fills up a normal life.

In my Bible (Hebrews 2) there is a heading that says:

Warning to Pay Attention

PAY ATTENTION!!!!

So, I guess we should pay attention.

There is a warning about not drifting away.

I know a little about drifting.

I grew up on the Pacific Ocean, everyone I knew could swim very well including myself.

It was kind of a necessity.

The Pacific can be very violent and really, kind of sneaky sometimes.

We have undertows that can quickly drag you under water and rip tides that can drag you out to sea.

It wasn't until I was 16 that I ever experienced a rip tide personally.

I was swimming a small way from the shore but every time I looked to the shore I seemed to be further away from it. 

I couldn't figure out why.

That's drifting away.

So Bibically what was the writer of Hebrews worried that these people would drift away from?

Verse three is the key here...

"How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?"

Escape what?

Well, verse two makes it clear that there is some sort of punishment.

I hate punishment.

I'm punishing my daughter right now because she won't write her school lessons nicely.

OR she'll write them nicely but will use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

Mostly it's a battle of wills.

Punishment isn't fun for the punished or the punisher, but sometimes it is necessary.

So if we want to escape punishment what do we need to do?

Be good?

Pretend to be good when we are at church?

Give a lot of money away?

None of those answers are in this passage.

NO to all of those.  However there is a distinct trait and habit of human beings to drift from so great a salvation to trying to be good.  We often think that if we are good God will give us a place in heaven.

Well, if that is true I am doomed.

We get punished if we ignore "so great a salvation."

Who would want to ignore that?

If you have read this blog before you know that salvation is a big, giant freebie from God to us.

We just ask for salvation and his answer is, "yes."

Granted, it cost God himself dearly, but he wants a relationship with us, so somebody had to pay the price for all the crap we do.

Jesus paid the price for you so that you don't have to be punished!

HOORAY!!!!

So don't drift away from that. Don't try to get God's approval by being good.  Before you know it, you'll be miles from God and you might not remeber your way back.

Don't ignore the great salvation.

Tell God you'd really like the great salvation.  In that moment the Bible says that you will become part of God's family and he will reserve a place for you in heaven.

So, that's a pretty good thing.

See you in heaven.

P.S. Obviously I got out of the rip tide.  But guess what?  I didn't get out by myself.

A lifegaurd saw me and swam out to save me.

He rescued me from a rip tide I didn't even know I was in.

The funny thing is that even when the lifegaurd got to me I didn't think I needed any help.

I tried to refuse him, but he was persistent and I finally allowed myself to be dragged to shore.

I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions about that story.