Drift

Hebrews 2

​I love to go fishing. Bass and Crappie Fishing is the best, especially in a boat. If I shut the trolling motor off to drop in a line or cast a few high-end jigs without dropping a small anchor, the boat is going to drift; it often drifts fast and far from my preferred location.
​
Hebrews 2 is a warning against neglecting our salvation and a reminder to intentionally pursue Jesus with a growing faith with spiritual disciplines. Hebrews is a book of exhortations or encouragement. The word means “encouragement” and is a title for the Holy Spirit, the “Comforter, Helper.”

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you... But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:16; 26 (ESV)

Throughout Hebrews, the writer, who is not known, encourages us not to neglect the Word of God, not to harden our hearts to the Word, to not become deaf to the Word, not defy the Word, or to disobey the Word deliberately. God deals in love with His people when they refuse to listen and obey Him, so it pays to have a heart sensitive to God’s voice which has been preserved in His Word for us.

Warren Wiersbe shares that Hebrews 2 focuses on “hearing Him, seeing Him, and trusting Him.” To hear, see, and trust Him, one must know Him and spend time with Him. We get to know Him by intentionally and systematically read, study, commit to memory His message and love letter to His family.

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 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, 4 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 (ESV)

This is the first of five solemn encouragements or admonitions to believers to pay attention to what God says in His Word. Every dot and tiddle is of importance in our journey to become more like Jesus. During Old Testament times, God dealt with those who disobeyed His Word, sometimes quite harshly with lost lives, lost battles, imprisonments, and forty-year wanderings in a desert. In these last days, we have a greater obligation to obey because we have the complete Scriptures and the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ.

Considering the overwhelming greatness of Christ, we should pay very close attention to what he has said. If Israel in OT times was punished for disobeying the law, given by angels, how much more will we be punished for disobeying God’s Word, given by his own Son? The obvious answer to 2:3 is that there is no escape, only eternal punishment, for those who reject Christ.

“For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7 ​You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:5–9 (ESV)

There is a “world to come,” and how we live today will help to determine our place in the future kingdom of Christ. Today, we see man fallen in Adam; but by faith, we see Christ and His victory. Because He is glorified, we shall be glorified in Him and with Him in the for which He has prepared.

“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:10–18 (ESV)

Those who follow and trust Jesus Christ by faith, believing in their heart that His is the Son of God, God in flesh, are God’s children on their way to glory. This salvation and future is secured by the indwelled Holy Spirit. The Redeemer, Jesus, has defeated sin, death, and the devil, and He understands how His adopted family feel as they face the temptations and trials of life. When you, as a follower, come to Him by faith, you come to a sympathetic High Priest who can meet your every need, “for in all points He was tempted; yet had no sin.”

Jesus was perfect in his deity, but He, in his humanity, had to learn obedience as a man so that He might accomplish God’s kingdom purposes. To do that, He had to suffer a cruel and unusual punishment, a scourging and crucifixion on a cross, a symbol of ridicule. He died on that Roman cross for you and me. He received glory and honor on Sunday, in fact, because of His obedient suffering and death on Friday.

Will you trust and follow Him if you have not already? Will you receive His forgiveness, His Spirit, and His prepared future both hear on earth and in Heaven? How serious are you about hearing Him, seeing Him, and trusting Him? Are you hungering and thirsting after His Word? Are you faithfully seeking God what God’s Word says to you?
​
Today, make His word; His precepts a priority and faithfully obey all that He has planned for you.

---