One of the ancient symbols for the Church is a ship. The idea originated in the Gospel accounts, which tell how Jesus compelled His disciples to board a ship and sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 14:22-33; John 6:16-21). That night, when they were some distance from shore, a perilous storm arose so that they tossed like a cork on the waves – until Jesus came walking across the water in the night. This is a most fitting picture of the Church sailing the contrary seas of this world. And it’s a particularly appropriate symbol of the church to which the book of Hebrews was written, for all agree it was under stormy siege. This tiny house-church was probably somewhere in Italy, possibly in or around Rome – then we can imagine the huge waves that were poised above their little boat in the imminent Neronian persecution. Some in the church were also in danger of being blown away from their moorings and drifting away from the truth of Christ and back into “the Dead Sea of Judaism.”

So now, with the superiority of Christ ringing in their ears, the writer explicitly sounds his warning to the harried church in 2:1-4. The vivid warning here uses nautical, sailing language, suggesting the image of a ship whose anchor has broken loose from the ocean floor and is dangerously drifting away. I have experienced this firsthand while fishing off the Southern California coast near Dana Point. My boat was having engine troubles and while trying to repair we ran the battery dead. We decided to fish where we were for a while before calling for help. However before we knew it the tide, wind and waves brought us very close to the rocky coast. Such dangerous drifting is not intentional but comes rather from inattention and carelessness – which was precisely the problem with the pressured little church. They had become carless about their moorings in Christ. At first, in calm waters, it wasn’t noticeable. But as the storms of opposition rose, some of them were drifting farther and farther away from Christ toward the shoals of shipwreck in their old world of Judaism.

Drifting is the besetting sin of our day today, and as the metaphor suggests, it’s not so much intentional as from unconcern. Christians neglect their anchor – Christ – and begin to quietly drift away. What brings drifting? For one thing, there is the tide of years. You have to live for some length to observe this, but the longer you live, the more you will see it. Many who were at one time professing, fine Christians drifted away from their earlier, better selves. They kept up appearances, but the years have carried them far away from their devotion.

There is also the tide of familiarity with the truth. It is natural for us to come to regard the familiar as commonplace. The initial venture into the mysteries of Christ will leave us exhilarated, but with the repeated journeys, some become bored tourists. Granted, some find joy in their familiarity with the mysteries of Christ. But familiarity has both danger and reward. It depends on us.

There is the danger of busyness too. In today’s world, the multiplicity of our cares and duties can overwhelm us. A snowflake is a tiny thing, but when the air is full of them, they can bury us. Just so, the thousand cares of each day can insulate us from the stupendous Excellencies of Christ, causing us to begin a deadly drift.

The drifting that comes through the combination of years, familiarity, and busyness often bares its existence when the storm of opposition comes. The anchor has long been loosed, and when the winds come, an eternal soul is suddenly on the rocks and shipwrecked. No wonder, then, that the warning is a powerfully phrased command that should be read with an exclamation point!

What to do? The answer brings us full circle in the warning to where it begins; we must pay the “greatest attention” to what we have heard. Two things are in view here. First, all our attention must be focused on the supremacy of Christ: prophetic, cosmic, Levitical, and angelic. We need to work at this – meditating on Him, asking questions, memorizing Scripture, and worshiping. Second, paying closest attention to what we have heard means living in revelation of God’s Word – and it always has. We all should be familiar with (and memorized) the great verses from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, they are crucial words and truths from which we must not drift!

Hebrews 2:1-4 Reflection Questions:

Have you ever found yourself drifting farther and farther away from Christ? Are you there now?

How is your prayer life, Bible studies, Church attendance and involvement going?

Are you putting God first in your life?