Hebrews-Part 2 -- " Drift Proofing Your Life" Series

Hebrews

“Encouragement for a life of faith”

Part 2

“Drift proofing your life”

Hebrews 2:1

Today we are going to continue our study of the book of Hebrews

Last week in our sermon and this week in our bible study

We took a serious look at why Christianity is better

At How Jesus is the real deal

And

How any other type of religion

Or any other created being that we put our faith in

Will never live up to the standard

Nor will it be able to do the job

The writer goes to great lengths to paint us a clear picture of Jesus

Then

He continues on with his teaching with the first of 5 exhortations

That is he is by his words

Urging the readers of this book to do something

We need to remember that our writer was primarily writing to believers in Jesus

Although there is great value here for anyone who is willing to read and listen and apply God’s word

Let me read for you Hebrews 2:1

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.”

I want to focus just for a moment on the words “listen very carefully “

The author of Hebrews is telling us to pay attention

Listen he says

More than -----that -----really listen

You all know it is possible to listen to someone without paying attention or without hearing

I mean really hearing

Right

So he begins his exhortation with

“Hey”

Listen

But then

He goes on to let us know

He is not asking us to listen to new information

He is not adding to our knowledge bank

He says Listen

To the truth we have already heard

What he is saying in common or cowboy terms

Is you guys have heard this before

You know this stuff

Now pay attention and use what you know

Or

“We may drift away from it”

Focus with me on that word drift

Drifting

When I first think of the word drifting

I tend to

Like I am sure most of you do

Think of a boat floating on the water

Bobbing around

No motor

No sails

No oars to move it in any particular direction

And this is a good picture of this word

Boats that are set adrift are at the mercy of the current

The waves

The rocks

----The obstacles in their path---

But being this is cowboy church

And being that I have fried my brain since I was a little child

With western movies

Western TV shows

And western novels

I can’t help but think of a drifter

When I think of the word drift

A saddle tramp most novels and movies would call him

Usually a dirty

Greasy cowboy of shady character

I think of Asa Watts and his crew from the movie the cowboys

A drifter is someone with no connection

They ride

Not for a brand

But for them selves

In either picture I just painted for you

Drifting is not a good thing

In a boat you could end up

Lost

Wrecked

Sunk

As a saddle tramp

You end up living a life without purpose

Without connection

Without fulfillment

Just going whichever way the wind blows

Let me say this

Drifting is not a good life

And drifting can be dangerous

But

Drifting is easy

Just do nothing

In order to drift you just have to go with the flow

Do what feels good

Stop doing anything that moves you in any direction

But especially doing anything that moves you in a positive direction

This morning I want to look at why drifting is not good for as believers us

And

In the process how we can avoid it

But first we must look at some signs that would indicate that we are about to begin drifting

I, like the writer of Hebrews am talking to believers in this first part

If you are an unbeliever here this morning I urge you as our writer urged the unbelievers in that day

to listen as well

But

I need to tell you

You can’t drift if you were never connected in the first place

I want to clarify something before I begin listing the warning signs of drifting

Neither I nor the writer of Hebrews is talking about a loss of Salvation when we talk of drifting

We are talking about backsliding

The bible paints a clear picture on assurance of salvation

Here is one of the strongest verses on this subject

Romans 8:38-39

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”