The Danger of the Drift

Last week I wrote over at Proverbs 31 Ministries. I thought you might enjoy it too! Here you go!

Sitting at the beach I watched my grandnieces, ride the waves like miniature mariners. Wade out. Ride in. Wade out. Ride in. I also noticed that the waves didn’t come straight into the shore, but at a wind-driven angle. Each time the girls rode the waves, the water carried them just a little bit to the left. Then a little more. Then a little more.

My visual of the duo became smaller and smaller as the ocean spilled them out further down the beach with each ride. They were oblivious to the potential danger of drifting away from the safety of where they began.

Finally, I walked down shore and waved them back to where our family had camped out for the day.

Like the girls subtle slow drifting, we can be happily riding the waves of everyday life, but then the one ungodly decision spills us back onto the shore a little bit left of where we started. Then the next wave of a poor decision takes us a little left of that one. Before we know it, the tide of wrong decisions has taken us from the safety of where we were planted in the truth and we are in danger of struggling to find our way back.

The writer of Hebrews warns us, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV). The Greek word for “careful attention” is prosekh’o, which means to pay attention, to give heed, to be cautious, to devote oneself. Pay attention…so that we don’t.

I’ve noticed that if I don’t pay attention to what I’m watching on TV, and view something that’s slightly offensive, I’m more likely to watch something that’s more offensive the next time. If I follow that drift, I can find myself having difficulty imagining Jesus sitting beside me on the sofa watching along.

The progression of one small temptation can lead to one wrong decision can lead to sin which takes us a bit further away from our close connection to Jesus. Then another wave of temptation can lead to another wrong decision which can lead to another sin which takes us even further away from the intimacy we crave.

But what if you find yourself already far away from where you started with Jesus. Perhaps you’ve ridden the waves of poor decisions so many times that He seems distant or far from view.

Here are two words that pull us back from the drift: repent and return. Repent means to have genuine remorse, turn away from sin, and go in the opposite direction back toward God. When we repent, God forgives. John wrote: ^“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:1:9 NIV). And “all” means “all.”

Oh friend, I want you to envision Jesus standing on the shore of where you are right now. He’s waving for you to come back to the safety just as surely as He waved Peter to the shore after he had denied Him three times (Luke 22:54-62, John 21:1-25). Jesus is always waiting to lead us back to intimacy with Him no matter how far we’ve drifted away.

Heavenly Father, help me to recognize when I’m in danger of making decisions that could cause me to drift in my relationship with You. Thank You for standing on the shore and always welcoming me home when I repent and return. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

If you are thankful Jesus always welcomes us back no matter how far we’ve drifted away, leave a comment and give Him a shoutout saying “I’m so thankful! “🙌🏽 🙌🏽 🙌🏽

Digging Deeper
We’ve all drifted at some point in our lives. Perhaps some of those drifts have led to difficult chapters that you’d like to rip out of the narrative. But rather than remove them, God wants to repurpose them for good. My book, When You Don’t Like Your Story: What if Your Worst Chapters Could Become Your Greatest Victories takes you from hurt to healing to helping others with what you’ve been through. This could be just the book you need to get you back to where you want to be.

Click here to read the first chapter for FREE.

Click here to find FREE Christmas resourcesNeed a Christmas gift for a MOM on your list? Momma Moments with God and Praying for Your Child from Head to Toe: A 30-Day Guide to Powerful and Effective Scripture-Based Prayer are two reader favorites that she will refer to time-and-time again! Click here to learn more. You can even take a peek