"Drifting"

 

“Drifting”

 

This past May our church recognized its high school, trade school, college and advanced degree graduates during its Sunday morning services. Youth Pastor Greg brought a challenging message warning these young (and not so young) people as well as the congregation as a whole against drifting, which comes from a loss of power and can cause deviation from a set course. He used as his text Hebrews 2:1: “So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.” (NLT),

We’ve likely heard or read about sailors, airmen, soldiers and marines who floated aimlessly on open seas after enemies’ attacks, some for weeks before being rescued. We also have a biblical example in Acts 27-28 of the ship’s carrying Paul and 275 others being caught in a severe storm and drifting hundreds of miles off course before by God’s grace landing on Malta. These picture what can happen to our faith if we fail to heed God’s truth and allow ourselves to be “…tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching, and by the cunning and craftiness of (people) in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14). Instead, “We have this hope (i.e. confidence in God’s presence) as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:19).

In 1945 E.E. Hewitt penned a song called “Drifting”, part of which says,

“Drifting carelessly with the tide, Drifting over the waters wide,

With no Captain your course to guide, Drifting over life’s sea…

Drifting on, with no shore in view, Think not skies will be always blue,

Storm and shipwreck will come to you, Drifting over life’s sea….”

And a 1944 song (written during the throes of World War II by Ruth Caye Jones), “In Times Like These”, tells us, “In times like these…you need an anchor; Be very sure…Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock”.

How can we avoid drifting in our lives? By being (in the words of an 1882 hymn by Priscilla J. Owens), “Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.” That’s the stability we all need in the storms of life.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan