Wild Ride
I had a dream last night sometime that brought our Sunday message t’ mind. I was in a car with one of my sons or grandsons…i can’t recall which. We had just slipped into our seats…i was behind the wheel…when a wind blew hard enough for us to start sliding sideways. The hill had just enough slope to it to act as the perfect “slide”. We barely avoided “teeboning” a tree and continued towards the swollen creek. We never slid straightforward , always sideways as in a graceful dance. The inability to come to a stop was crazy…it was if the car wouldn’t be satisfied until it put us in the woods. It finally dawned on me…crank the engine and apply the gas…maybe the thrust will slow it down or help somehow. It worked ! We stopped without damaging the car, but we were in need of a chainsaw to get a couple o’ trees out the way so we could drive back up to the house. Crazy; huh ?! Here’s what i got out of it … Sam preached outta Hebrews Sunday morning, and Hebrews 2:1 says, “ We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Call it coincidence or whatever, but i believe God supplies us warnings, reminders, signs and wonders to keep us safe, encouraged, self-controlled and holy. This “drifting” can be the result of our neglecting our personal “set-aside” time with Him. We can drift towards laziness, laxness and lethargy …. it’s us , not making time to “hear” what God is wanting us to hear. It could involve avoiding worship services, neglecting our gathering with other believers for whatever, leaving our Bibles to gather dust, watchin tv or our phones most of the time, saying prayers that have no substance, neglecting to pray for others or acknowledge their needs, finding every other activity under the sun to keep us busy and forfeiting the things of God, and what He wants to give us. This drifting results in many heartaches. It leaves a body drained and useless, depressed and lonely. I picture a boat without an anchor … pounded against a pier, cypress knees or taken over the falls. Unless we apply the gas and thrust needed to propel us to safety, we’re just gonna continue to drift until it’s too late. God didn’t save us to see us live a life of mediocrity. He also didn’t die a sinner’s death and rise again for us to continue dabbling in sin ! NO !! We’re saved to live in freedom FROM sin ! We’re saved to live an abundant life ! To keep from drifting into dangerous waters or suffering damage to our witness, we have to make self-controlled efforts to walk in the Spirit and not in our flesh. Unless we’re abiding in Christ and drawing closer to God, we’re gonna drift. If we’re not in God’s Word each and every day, listening and adhering to it, we’re gonna hear something else…and it ain’t gonna be nowhere near the truth that His Word is. If we’re drifting, it ain’t because of God. If we’re not living to please Him, we’re living to please ourselves…and we’re FAILING those that HE’S entrusted to us ! How’s that sayin go ? If you don’t appreciate what He’s given you, He’ll take it away and give it to someone who will. STOP DRIFTING !! Yeah, you CAN do something about it !!