Drift

Reading Hebrews 2:1
"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."

Drift is a problem for anyone who has somewhere to go. (Of course there is the proverbial 'drifter' of the classic Western movie but this is actually a totally unrelated phenomenon - more akin to the Biblical 'lost'). The drifter, or potential drifter, of Hebrews 2 is someone who has found a path in life that is full of hope and promise. Drift in this case threatens to lead us away from great gain and into great loss. The emphasis here, however, is on drifting away because the writer wants to remind us of all that we have found in Jesus. Jesus said "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Drifting away from my rest in Jesus and back to weariness and burden is not something I really want to have happen. Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink...streams of living water will flow from within." Drifting away from living water and back to unquenchable thirst is not something I want to have happen in my life. We could go on and on with this but you can see how much we would want to avoid drift.

The writer tells us that there is only one solution for the problem of 'drift' and that is 'attention.' Attention is a cultivated state of elevated awareness. The word "attention" has deep roots in the history of Christian spirituality. Many traditional spiritual exercises begin with a call to attention before God. Attention is a relationship enhancer. All of our relationships are enriched through attention. Attention to the words of God is the way to keep from drifting away from every good thing that I have come to enjoy in and through Jesus. The writer says that we must "pay more careful attention. The problem is not one of hearing or even of being able to repeat back what we have heard. The problem is that most of the time we are only half listening to God. We give assent: "yes, yes, I heard you." The challenge is to listen in such a way that when God speaks we "get it." We get what his heart is, we get his logic, we get his deep desires for us and for our life.

The project for this next week: try to listen more intently to the voice of God as you read his Word. Your relationship will deepen and you will inhibit the drift away from God. Try to expand this to include all of your other relationships. Become as conscious as possible of how well you listen and of how prepared you are to respond warmly and lovingly to what you have heard.