Drift

Today's Reading: Hosea 2:19-20; & Hebrews 2

Scripture:

"For this reason we must pay much attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." Hebrews 2:1

Observation:

The words the writer uses here are nautical terms and the picture he paints with them is one of mooring a ship to the dock. If a person is not careful in how he ties his boat to the dock the boat will come untied, drift from the harbor, and suffer damage.

Application:

Being a follower of Christ is not some organic process that just happens on its own. The process is definitely Spirit led and Spirit empowered but the process is also heavily impacted by the attention I pay to it. I have to anchor myself to certain truths or I will run the risk of drifting away and suffering damage. There are three truths on my heart this morning.

First, I have been set apart for service. I play victim to this one by allowing myself to feel unworthy of serving God. I say things like I am not good enough or I do not know enough or I have messed up too much. But the truth is I am selfish. Accepting God's call on my life means that I am to lay aside all my desires and allow the main ambition of my life to become serving Him. That requires HIGH levels of self-denial and I am simply not very good at that. All it takes are a few bad choices and I find myself completely removed from my call.

Second, I am no longer slave to sin. The work of Christ forgives all sins I commit. Sins past, sins present, and sins future have all been taken away. God realized that I would never be perfect and He has made ample provision to cover my blunders. Be that as it may, I am not to go on sinning. He expects me to submit to the process of purification. I am not longer to be in submission to my flesh and its desires.

Finally, I am to be conformed to God's holiness. Ultimately someone defines the good enough line. Since perfection in anything is impossible man has created a complicated series of systems that define success in any endeavor. Goals define what is good enough at work. Scores define what is good enough in sports. Budgets define what is good enough in finance. If I am not careful I will find myself doing the same thing with my holiness. I must always remember that God set the good enough line to equal Himself.

Prayer:

Father, I do not really know how to pray over this one other than to seek Your help. I know these things given to me today are universal truths and I accept them as the call on my life; yet I find myself still serving my own interest, wrestling with slavery to my sin, and settling for my own definition of holiness. These are sinful actions against You and I confess them to You this morning.

Father, I give myself to You this morning and ask that You guide me in the fulfillment of all that You have asked of me. Open my eyes to know the service You have for me and strengthen me to lay aside my own desires. Help me to know that all things have been given to me in Christ and empower me to break free from the patterns of sin I face. Push me to refuse acceptance of my own definition of holiness and lead me to find the peace of Your holiness given to me in Christ.