For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. (Heb 2:1 NAU)
It was a conversation over dinner with some friends. The discussion focused on some things that had impacted us regardig our faith in Jesus, but those things were not in keeping with what was actually said in the Bible. Some of those things were movies or books or simply things we had heard from others.
“When we allow those things which are not taught in the Bible to impact our faith, we are actually forming our own religion, aren’t we?”
“Yes.” I replied. Even more than that, we are shaping our own god instead of allowing God to reveal Himself to us.
It’s called “drifting.” The book of Hebrews, and many other places in the Bible, warn us of this very thing.
Drifting means to slip away, or to slip by. It is the idea of a ship not secured by an anchor which gradually moves away from its moorings.
It happens when we do not pay close attention to the word of God. We stop reading it and allow our thoughts about God and how we are to please Him to be to be shaped by our own thinking or the thoughts of those around us who impact the way we think and what we think about..
We cannot allow this to happen if we hope to have the salvation offered to us by God. We come to God through Jesus and Jesus alone. To come to God through Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, we must pay close attention to the things which Jesus has said. We must be constantly on our guard to make sure we do not drift away from Jesus and what He has said.
To move away from Jesus is to move away from God. To move away from scripture is to move away from Jesus.