Anchored
“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.”
When I began reading Hebrews 2, I didn’t get very far. The first verse made me pause. I read it again. And then once more. I did what I always do when I want to meditate on a verse. I wrote it down in my journal and started writing on it, and drawing around it. And the more I reflected on in, the more I felt that I just needed to pause here at this verse. And I wanted to pause here, on verse 1, with you.
I was thinking about this word drift. I go to the beach often and swimming in the ocean is one of my favorite things to do. Have you ever noticed how you think you are in one spot, but after awhile, you look around and you realize you a actually quite far from “your spot.” Drifting happens so easily, doesn’t it? And so unnoticeably. You don’t feel yourself slowly being pushed in a direction. You think you are staying in one spot. When you go to the dictionary, the definition of drift is “to be carried along by currents of water or air, or by force of the circumstances” (dictionary.com). When you drift, there is an unseen force, an unseen current, that pushes you, that carries you in the direction it is going. And before you know it, you are in a spot you didn’t think you could be.
It is so easy to drift when we are not anchored to anything.
When we become Christians, we are anchored to God. We are hidden in Him, the Rock of our salvation. He is our immovable Rock. If we are swimming in the ocean, He is the rock that is our fixed point, so we don’t get taken out to sea. If we look at the spiritual parallels, the writer of Hebrews essentially tells us that salvation anchors us and keeps us from going adrift. He then issues a warning to us: we must pay close attention to the truth of what we’ve heard, or we may drift away.
To me the scariest thing in the warning is that the author is telling us if we don’t pay attention, we will drift away—easily, unnoticeably, and when we realize where we are, we will be so far away from the truth. I think we often have the mindset that to get out to sea, to get off course, away from the Rock, a strong storm would be the only thing to move us. But the more dangerous thing that gets us of course is the unseen currents. I think this is what the writer of Hebrews is warning us about. There are going to be currents—culture, trends, tides of thinking—that, if we are not careful, will move us away from our Rock.
I’ve also noticed that it is harder to swim back in the opposite direction, fighting against the current, unnoticed before, but now suddenly a presence I most certainly feel. Wonder had I sensed the current before, would I have ever drifted in the first place? .
How do we stay anchored to the Rock? How do we keep from going adrift? “We must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard.” The “truth of what we’ve heard” is the message of salvation. We must keep Jesus, our Rock and our Salvation, continually before us and never forget the truth of His message.
Now, let me be perfectly clear here: he is not saying that if we don’t pay attention, we will lose our salvation. Once we confess He is Lord, we are hidden in Him by His grace. But when I think of being adrift, I think of being off course. I think we can be Christians who are off course, who are drifting aimlessly, with no purpose. When we don’t have Jesus continually fixed before us, we are like a boat without a compass, going nowhere. When we actively try to stay in our spot, focused on a fixed point, we are aware of the current that is trying to move us.
So how do we keep a hold of this truth? How do we actively push against the currents that want to lead us away from Jesus?
Hebrews 2:2-3 goes on to say
“For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.”
I think first and foremost, is professing that Jesus is our salvation. God had a system set up for sin and atonement in the Old Testament that was but a shadow of salvation. Jesus is the only way to the Father and eternal life (John 14:6) The writer of Hebrews is saying that those who have heard the message of the Gospel and neglect it, will not escape punishment for their sins (hell).
We need to be women that affirm that Christ is the only way of salvation and we need to be women that are unwavering in that belief. And we need to be women that are not ashamed of proclaiming the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, to everyone we know. He is the hope of the world. He is the One who brings peace, justice, and righteousness. He is the One who puts us back on course. He is the One who gives us our purpose.
As believers, how or why do we need to keep the truth of our salvation continually before us? If we are not careful, it is easy to drift into legalism. Unnoticeably, we can start to think our works are earning our righteousness. We need to remember continually that salvation is through the grace of Jesus alone, and not through works. Paul wrote to the Galatians about this very thing. He had preached the message of the Gospel, salvation through faith in Jesus. But they so easily slipped back into a life bound by the law. Jesus wants us to live a life of freedom that is only found in Him. When we focus on Him, and our redemption found in the cross, we will not be pushed/driven by our works. Rather, His grace will lead us to true transformation.
Keeping Jesus, the Rock, continually before us is keeping truth—His truth, the only truth—continually before us. John 1:17 says “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” In a society and culture where truth is relative and ever shifting, we need to be women who affirm God’s truth, which does not change. If we follow the tide of truth from the world, we will be so far from Jesus, unanchored, and tossed by the winds and waves. There is no safety outside the truth of His word.
How else to we keep the truth we have heard continually before us? We keep in step with the spirit (Galatians 5:26). To me the opposite of being adrift is being led. Psalm 43:3 so beautifully says
Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.
His light and His truth will guide us and keep us on course. The Holy Spirit guides us in truth, and keeps us anchored to Jesus. We can never lose our salvation. But we can live a life adrift, away from our Rock. Let us be women who live with purpose, who stay on course, and are led to His holy mountain, the Rock that is Jesus Christ.
