Mommies Magazine

Are You Drifting?

Posted on 02. Aug, 2006 by Rev. Kimberly Dreiman in Rev. Kim's Devotional

I remember as a teenager taking a trip to Florida and visiting the ocean. Even though – I couldn’t really swim – I went out into the ocean on a floating raft. Before I knew it I had drifted into the ocean. Fortunately I was able to get safely back to shore. There is another way to drift as shown in Hebrews 2:1 “We must pay careful attention, therefore to what we have heard so that we do not drift away”. As I was drifting on the raft – it was peaceful and I was unaware of the danger of drifting. Drifting takes no effort – so as people make no effort to serve God – they will drift away from God. If you stay faithful to the Lord in bible study, prayer and attending services – it will be hard to drift away from God. Just as you cannot drift when you are paddling a raft upstream. It is important to add to your faith as shown in: 2 Peter 1:5-9 “For this very reason , make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins“.
Many dangers are evident as people drift away from the Lord. Parents who drift away from the Lord lose their testimony and influence they would have on their children. Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord“. The bible teaches that there is a need to grow up in the Lord. Ephesians 4:14 “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” If people continue spiritually drifting there will be no escape of the promised punishment. Hebrews 2:1-3 “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” The first step in spiritual drifting is to stop reading the Bible and this is followed by not praying. Jesus went to solitary places to pray as shown in: Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” As a christian prays less and less they are drifting away from the Lord. The next drifting step is losing a desire to spend time with Christians and attending church services. The correct attitude is shown in: Psalm 122:1 “I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Christian fellowship is more than attending services – Romans 14:19 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Christians need to encourage each other. Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” It is important to pick friends who are sold out for Jesus. I Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” If Christians prefer worldly friendship rather than christian fellowship they are drifting to spiritual destruction.
When a person accepts Jesus as savior – sins have been removed. They have a strong desire to share Jesus with others. As a christian loses desire to share the good news of Jesus – they are drifting. The final step in drifting is to seek or to enjoy the things of the world more than God. If you find you are drifting – put Jesus back in control of your life. Ask God to forgive you and then get back to serving the Lord wholeheartedly! On this earth there is no retirement plan for serving the Lord. When you accepted Jesus as savior – you made a commitment to serve him until you draw your last breath. Each day must be lived for the Lord and time should be used wisely to glorify God and spread the good news of Jesus.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Don’t follow the crowd – stand up and make a difference for Jesus. Are you drifting or are you on fire for Jesus?