How many times, when people describe a failed marriage, have you heard them say, "We just drifted apart"? When a person drifts away from another person it is usually a gradual, slow process. It isn't something you plan on doing or you actively seek to do. Sometimes we don't even know how it happens. We just wake up one morning and the other person seems like a stranger.
When a boat begins to drift it can be carried very far away in a short time. Depending on how strong the currents are, and how big the wind is, it may drift miles. If you were asleep on such a boat, you might be surprised to wake up in an unknown and unrecognizable place—a place you really didn't mean to go, maybe even a dangerous place.
Drifting Away from God
This can happen to us with God as well. The things in life that happen distract us from our real safe harbor, from our safe haven with our Lord. One moment everything seems fine. We're attending church, loving our neighbor, reading the Bible and praying and then the next moment we can't remember the last time we prayed or studied the Word. We may feel alienated from God. We may feel like, not just that we don't know Him anymore, but that He doesn't know us.
The Role of Neglect in Failing Relationships
When relationships fail it is often due to neglect. We take things for granted. We think the relationship will always be there and that we don't really need to do anything to make it work. When we commit to someone, or to God, we agree that we want this relationship to continue in the future.
We understand that we will continue to spend time together, work on growing our relationship with each other, and continue nurturing it. Do you notice the action verbs in that sentence: spending time, working, growing and nurturing? Is that what we are doing with God?
Nothing ends well when things are neglected. Do you neglect your school work? Do you fail to care for your family, your spouse, your business. You will discover that even though you didn't actively try to destroy your life, it will happen all because of simple neglect. We have to consciously decide to work at our life for it to be successful. To be a successful Christian, and to have the best relationship to God that we can, also takes work.
Avoiding the Danger of Spiritual Drift
Hebrews 2:1 says this, "We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away" (NIV). Is that what we are doing? Are we paying careful attention to God and His Word? Drifting can happen easily. Without making a real effort that is exactly what will happen to us. The opposite of this is diligence. The Bible tells us it is very important to be diligent in our faith because this helps us avoid the danger of spiritual drift (Hebrews 6:10). Hebrews 11:6 says that we are rewarded when we diligently seek God.
The Bible repeatedly warns us about the dangers of neglecting faith, as Paul does when he tells Timothy to hold onto his faith and good conscience because some people have put away those things and shipwrecked their faith (1 Timothy 1:19). Paul is telling Timothy to stand firm in the truth that is in Christ. Our good conscience is one that doesn't offend God (Hebrews 10:22).
A good conscience wants to stay away from sin and follow the will of the Father. But some have abandoned these things, they have become unmoored from their first love, they have put them away and drifted until sadly they finally shipwrecked their faith. To shipwreck one’s faith means to lose direction entirely, drifting so far from the truth that it is spiritually devastating.
The Consequences of Neglecting Salvation
The writer of Hebrews continues and reminds his reader that "every transgression and disobedience received a just reward" (NKJV). Some translations use the word penalty or punishment instead of reward. Hebrews 2:3 asks how can we escape if we neglect or ignore this great salvation that has been given to us. There will be consequences to drifting away from God. Our lives will not produce the Fruit of the Spirit that God intended when we live outside of His will.
While neglect can affect our fruit, for non-believers, neglecting salvation will have everlasting consequences. This great salvation, if ignored, will lead to eternal suffering and separation from God in hell. Thankfully, we serve a gracious God who desires a relationship with us and made that possible through the Cross of Christ. He invites you, even now, to turn to Him.
Despite the severe consequences of neglect, as Hebrews 2:3-4 explains, there is ample evidence of the truth of the Gospel message, which leaves no excuse for disbelief. There is the witness of Jesus, the testimony of His disciples, and the evidence of the mighty miracles He performed. The spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit to believers also testify to this truth. Together, these speak to the hope and salvation found in Christ, encouraging us to remain faithful.
No Escape for Neglecting Salvation
Notice that the writer of Hebrews does not say that there is no escape for murderers or adulterers or liars. No, he says there is no escape for those who neglect salvation. Some people think they have plenty of time to make a decision about believing and repentance. Some people think that just believing He exists is enough to save them. They may be the best and kindest of people, but they also may have neglected to come to Christ.
Many of us have seen in our own families or other people's families, children who grew up as Christians, in Christian homes, believing in God and studying His word only to drift away when they became adults. They ignored the great salvation that had been given to them. The world became more important to them than Jesus. They forgot who the anchor for their soul is.
A Great Salvation: God's Gift to Us
Why does the author say it is a 'great' salvation? Because it is our great God who provided it for us. It is great because our salvation saves us from a terrible eternal fate and offers us the greatness and glory of Heaven. No matter how great our sin, this great salvation is offered to each of us.
The Parable of the Sower and Neglect
In Matthew 13:7, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower and discusses the seed that fell on thorny ground. The weeds sprang up and choked them. Jesus goes on to explain this by saying that these are people that hear the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out their growth and they bear no fruit. They, in essence, fail to apply what they have heard to their life. They drift away because other worldly things distract them. They don't bear fruit because they have been neglectful farmers as it were.
Staying Connected to the Vine
Have we neglected our great salvation? Have we taken for granted our relationship to God or have we unintentionally drifted from it? In John 15:1-8, we learn that the only way to produce fruit is to remain connected to the vine.
We are nourished by Jesus, the vine. That connection, as we said before, needs to be nurtured, grown, and worked on. We can only produce fruit if we spend time with our Father. We read, study, listen and we hear and obey. Regularly confessing sins and turning back to God restores fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9). We should be hard workers. Being a diligent Christian rewards us with a deeper relationship with our Savior, one that causes us to become more like Jesus in every way.
When we pay attention to our walk with Christ we won't drift away. While diligence strengthens our relationship with Christ, it is always God’s grace that sustains us (Philippians 2:12-13). Remember, if we aren't diligent it is not Jesus that is drifting, it is us. God remains faithful even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13). He says we must bear fruit and to do so means that we have to stay close to Him. This great salvation He offers us can't be neglected. It is eternally important.
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