Drifting!

It is crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we have heard so we don’t drift off. Hebrews 2:1

A few years ago our family was enjoying a trip to Orange Beach, Florida for our annual vacation. Our son in law, Lee, who loves boating, trailered his boat down and parked it in a marina nearby so that we could all enjoy a boat ride along the bay and surrounding areas.

On one beautiful evening, we all boarded the boat for a sunset cruise and then a stop at a restaurant on the marina. During the boat ride, some other boaters had spotted the Ole Miss sticker on his boat, and we found out they were also Ole Miss fans. We conversed and laughed with them. After our ride, we docked at the marina, tied off the boat, and left to go upstairs for our evening meal.

While we were finishing up, a guy came running up and yelled, “Hey Old Miss people, your boat is drifting out of the harbor and headed to the ocean!” I don’t know exactly what happened next, other than the ten of us and other folks there bolted to the dock! It is a pretty unbelieveable sight to see your boat drifting away in the current and being helpless to stop it! Luckily some of the folks at the restaurant were able to get to their boat to take Lee to his boat before it drifted any further, and he brought it back to the dock safely!

Later, we discovered that the boat hadn’t been tied off tightly enough, and the rope had come loose allowing the boat to drift away. We were so occupied with other things, that we didn’t notice it was drifting!

Drifting is defined as being slowly carried away by a current of water or air. The apostle Paul gives us another definition when he says, “Drifting is the result of neglecting the priorities set by God.” These teachings have to be tied securely or we will find ourselves drifting away from them. Drifting is not only slow and subtle. but also, it can also be disasterous.

Someone once said, All that’s necessary for a life of drifting is to relax, do nothing, cease struggling, and submit to worldly infuences around us.

Drifting away can happen in many areas in this world. For example, Harvard University began as a school to equip pastors and ministers in sharing the Gospel of Jesus. St. Luke’s Medical Center was also founded by Christian missionaries in the Philippines to help poor people and to share the love of Jesus. Our country was founded on Judeo Christian values and belief in a sovereign God. What happened? They have all drifted away from their founding purposes.

How many of us Christians today are like these institutions? We are slowly drifting away from our original purpose and calling along this highway of life. We no longer prioritize our Christian heritage and beliefs and this is robbing us of our passion, enthusiasm, motivation, and focus.

Many outside forces cause us to drift away. Things such as committments to other less important things, inconvenience, laziness, and even apathy cause us to drift. We have a lack of goals for our faith. What has destroyed our vision of and interest in our faith? If we would take a moment to write down the reasons we’ve lost our interest in God and his church, maybe we could indulge our minds to change some things and get excited about our faith again. We could tie our lives securely to God, and bring in the drifting part of it.

Sometimes we are setting the wrong goals for our life. Maybe we are letting our lives drift in the currents which are going against God’s will for our lives?! It might be time to check in with Him through prayer and see what He says about the situation.

I can still see that boat drifting away from us, and I felt powerless to do anything to stop it! Life has a way of catching us up in the current and carrying us away from the things that are most important. Drifting seems to always be more away from something than toward something!

This week we should spend some time examining the things in our lives that cause us to drift in the wrong direction and remember that it is crucial that we firmly tie ourselves to the teachings that we have learned.