Needless to say, I was near offended to come across this message from God:
"So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1, NLT)
I vividly remember laying on a raft with two friends at a lake house over the summer enjoying myself. Slowly but surely my two friends and I drifted away from the house. We were in good company, warm, and as the sun dried out our bathing suits, very comfortable and eventually sleepy. If you told me as I removed the line tying us to the dock that I would have to swim a quarter mile back, I may have made a far wiser decision.
Swimming even a quarter mile (truth be told it may have been less) while pulling along two girls on a raft was one of the most frustrating and painful experiences of my life. When we finally arrived back at the dock I was shaking from fatigue, and truth be told I should have drowned (I actually swallowed water and almost did at one point, shh, do not tell those two girls).
How many times have you untied the line and let yourself drift off? Have you told one lie and then had to lie infinitely more to cover it up? Has "just one drink" ever turned into "How am I this drunk?" Have you been undisciplined and in frustration reacted in physically punishing yourself to relieve stress through starvation or mutilation? Have you crossed a line of purity only to soon give in to temptation and sex? Have you done all of these things? Good news. You are no worse or better than I.
Personally, I do not see anything except what is right in front of me. It is definitely a problem. But when has drifting away from the anchor, the shore, the lifeline ever been fun? How many times do you say "oh, I think I am alright for now" until it is a problem? How many times do you hit the snooze alarm for "5 more minutes" until you are late? Why don't we just stand up, stand firm, and tie the line tighter?
Let's make sure we never drift down stream again.
Secure the line to a community.
Secure the line to wise people.
Secure the line to encouraging friends.
Secure the line to the God that created all of those things.
Think of the world you could live in, think of the mistakes you would not have to swim back from. Think of the fatigue you will never have to experience.
Oh, what a world that would be!
1 comment:
First of all, I won't tell the two girls. Although I am thoroughly impressed at how quickly you had made it back to my house after hearing the dinner bell.
Second of all, thank you for this post. I think it applies to every single one of us in some way shape or form. It's all to easy to cut the cord and assure ourselves we won't drift...and oh how wrong we end up being.
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