Beware of Drifting Along!

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1)

There is nothing easier than drifting; but at the same time, there is nothing that can be more dangerous. While this holds true on any sea, it becomes even more serious when we think of life’s sea. Where few would ever dare to drift in any boat, many seem unconcerned about drifting along through life. Therefore, we need this warning from God’s Word. We need to realize the awful consequences of drifting along.

In the first place, the drifter is always going down. No one ever drifts upstream. The law of gravity applies spiritually, too. It is easy to float downstream. Oh, the many that are doing it! To go the way of the world with the crowd is the easy way of the drifter, but it is the way down to Hell itself.

The drifter not only is going down, but even worse is the fact that he is seldom aware of it. For the most part, he does not even realize that he is drifting. The drifter becomes so much like Samson of whom we read, ” … he wist not that the LORD was departed from him” (Judges 16:20). The currents that cause drifting are often barely perceptible. We drift before we know it. That is why we need to constantly keep our bearings and have our port in view.

The devil seldom urges a Christian to leave the church or give up his faith in the Lord. His strategy is more subtle than that. He just seeks to cause us to relax – to rest on the oars and drift along in our Christian life.

Are there not many Christians who have drifted into a state of coldness and indifference in this way? They have seemingly forgotten their conversion experience with its sense of guilt concerning sin and subsequent joy in coming to the Lord. The truths of sin and grace which once so strongly gripped their hearts and consciences have become so familiar that they now fall on almost deaf ears. Their “first love” for the Lord and for the souls of men has been largely left; and other things, though good and legitimate, have taken first place.

This is the peril of drifting. We must recognize it. We must beware of its deceitfulness and also realize “it can happen to me.”

Drifting along is so serious. If we continue drifting along, we will ultimately come to ruin. The waters may still seem placid, but the rapids, and finally the falls, are sure to come at last. Besides, all the time we are drifting, we are not only ruining ourselves, but we are also endangering the lives of others. Just as derelicts endanger other ships, so aimless, ambitionless, spiritual drifters are often a menace to the spiritual welfare of others.

Are you drifting along? Heed the songwriter’s plea: “Drift no longer! Let Jesus Save.”