If you’ve ever body-surfed, boogey-boarded, or just went swimming at the beach, you’ve experienced drift. One moment you run from you chair on the beach and dive into the surf, the next moment you look up and realize you’re a mile away from where you started.

In Hebrews 2, the writer warns the struggling Jewish Christians of Rome that they need to pay careful attention to the gospel they have heard “…so we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1).

The crazy thing about drifting is that most of the time we are completely unaware that it’s happening. We’re so caught up in what we’re feeling or doing at the moment that we lose sight of the big picture. So how do we keep from drifting? Hebrews 1&2 give us two great answers.

Pay Careful Attention

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

Hebrews 2:1

After you’ve drifted down the beach a time or two, you learn to locate that huge beach umbrella someone planted near your spot on the beach so you can look at it as a point of reference to know if you are drifting. But here’s the thing – you must make a solid decision to “pay careful attention” to that umbrella. Without a committed decision, the umbrella will not help. Hebrews 3:1 challenges us to “…fix your thoughts on Jesus.” It takes a decision that you will stick to. Our minds are often on everything else around us that seems urgent or entertaining. We need to pay careful attention!

Encourage One Another

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. “

Hebrews 3:12-13

Well, this is actually a few points in one. First, we must “see to it…” When I read that I think to myself, “Take serious responsibility.” It implies focus and unrelenting effort…. make it so! This has to be something that we do on purpose, with planning and follow through.

See to it that I don’t have a sinful, unbelieving heart? No, it says “that none of you…” Yes, I’m responsible for me, but I’m also part of a community committed to loving one another. If you’re swimming at the beach and you notice your brother being pulled away by a dangerous riptide, you don’t think to yourself, “Wow…that’s horrible. I hope he makes it. Glad I’m okay.” That’s not love! You act urgently, calling into service every resource available to help him. That’s seeing to it! When we drift in our faith, we often don’t think anything serious is happening. That’s a demonstration of sin’s deceitfulness. “This is no big deal; no harm will come from this; the bible doesn’t really mean…,” sin says to us in a lie. It’s deceitful.

If I’m “seeing to it” and notice my brother is drifting, what should I do? Encourage him!

Brother, you’re just an awesome guy!”

Well, that’s not exactly what the scripture means, though we all need to hear positive things once in a while. Instead, we give each other “courage” using all the spiritual resources available to us – using scriptures to remind us that God is good, share the miracles the Spirit has done in your life, focusing them on how Jesus has already won the battle. In short, do what the writer of Hebrews is doing for his audience. Serve them, feed them, sit with them, pray with them, but do what the Hebrews writer is doing!

Drifting left alone doesn’t end well. Let’s pay careful attention, see to it, and encourage one another.