The Danger of Drifting

 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4).

 

After the writer details the excellence of Jesus over the angels, he begins with some exhortation to perseverance. We find this in what we have come to recognize as the second chapter of this epistle. I’m always a bit surprised that “chapters” have become so important in our exposition of the Scripture. They were certainly not present in the original writings. I suppose they are helpful in directing people to specific areas of the Bible. So, without going further in that discussion, note how this division of the letter begins with the word “therefore.” The word “therefore” indicates the conclusion of an argument based upon the propositions stated beforehand. What he has written in the previous section leads to this conclusion of the dangers of neglecting “so great a salvation” by “drifting away.”

 

Let me just pause for a second. The author of Hebrews is getting at the perfect marriage between doctrine and practice. If we believe what he has declared in the first chapter, then that has radical implications for how we live our lives. He begins to show that when he says, “Therefore, we must pay much closer attention.” There is tension in these words because it is not certain grammatically whether the author is using a comparative or a superlative. The author sort of crunches them both together when he speaks of a “much closer attention.” I would prefer that he would simply say that we therefore must pay “the most possible attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

 

Think of that image of drifting. Some people go fishing in boats and do not set the anchor down; they allow the boat to move with the current. They just drift. Where they end up can be somewhat problematic. Scripture uses this kind of figurative language elsewhere when it talks about an “anchor for our soul,” which is the hope we have in Christ. In our text, the author is negatively saying, “Don’t allow yourselves to drift aimlessly away from what you’ve heard here.”

 

The author is speaking about the marvelous comparison he has given about the superiority of Jesus over the angels and over all created things: “Do not drift away from what you have heard, but pay the closest possible attention to it … the message declared by angels proved to be reliable”—this is a reference to the Old Testament idea hinted at in Deuteronomy 33 regarding the law being mediated by the angels. When Moses received the law from God, there were myriads of angels present on that occasion. So, the author of Hebrews says that if the law that came from the angels was ignored by people in the Old Testament and they received a just retribution, how much more responsible are we to that which has come to us from Christ, who is superior to the angels?

 

Do you see this great responsibility? Of course, it is a great privilege we have received in the gift of grace; however, with that privilege comes great responsibility. How are you responding to this gift? Is it just a part of you life when you find yourself in trouble: or, is it the compass of your life? We must be intentional in our determination to walk in this great grace Jesus has won on our behalf! Don’t just drift along!