Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Deadly Drift of Distraction

S - Hebrews 2:1-3 (NIV): "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."

O - Drifting away … slipping … stray … the Greek is a compound word παραῤῥυέω: to be carried past, glide past, a thing that escapes me or slips my mind. The point is that a tragic conclusion does not always begin with something intentionally rebellious or overtly dangerous.  Distraction, the failure to keep the main thing the main thing (note: the person of Jesus is the main thing) became the inspiration for self-disqualification: a stubborn refusal to believe, an insistence on doing things one's own way; a logic which ends in accusing God and excusing self. The good news from heaven is a person not information; a person not a promise; a person not a principle; a person not a plan.  Jesus, the person not the concept, is the remedy to this ever-present danger and the help all humans need.

A - Jesus presents his followers with only five "be on your guard against" statements.  Be on your guard against: the yeast of the Pharisees; all kinds of greed; false Christs and false teachers; human beings and distraction. He wouldn't have warned his closest friends and followers if there was no real danger.  For these five, he is the remedy and the preventative. He's not a vaccine … he's daily bread, a daily dose of life, truth, hope, faith, forgiveness, light, power.  He does it this way because we weren't created to perform but to love; to be in an ongoing relationship.  He created us for interdependence.  We need him and we need each other.  This is the only known way to prevent and/or recover from the deadly drift Scripture warns us of.  Today, I'll gladly live out the dose of him who is life!

P - Lord who is the message, who is salvation,
Thank you for wanting us to live in you not just to you; for wanting us in authentic relationship and for creating us for this very purpose. I admit this morning already found me drifting a bit but your loving kindness, your presence, and your relentless love has engaged me once again today while it is called today.  I am grateful to be near you, following you, back on course and focused.  Since you are giving me your irrepressible and vibrant life today let me, today while it’s called today, be a reason someone else would believe.
I love you back,
Steve

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