Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
- Hebrews 2:1
I hope to take my wife fishing soon, now that it's cool enough for her to be outside but not so cold that the fish won't be biting. I was thinking about that some this morning before the slow start to my day became shattered by spilling coffee on myself less than a mile from the church. At that point I wasn't thinking about God or Leah or anything much besides the fact that the coffee was still hot and burned me, my pants looked like I had wet myself and I couldn't change, and how this was not how I needed today to go. Before that horrible moment though, I had been listening to praise and worship (a song Leah evidently doesn't like because the singer's voice irritates her) and thinking about taking my wonderful wife fishing. We have a staycation coming up, and I thought that it could be a good time to try it, if it doesn't turn cold before then.
I was struggling to get back to where I needed to be spiritually and in attitude, but it was hard. I pictured a fishing pole and line. Everything seems peaceful and tranquil, the little peppermint looking bobber floating on the still water. Birds are singing and squirrels are chasing each other around trees while multi-colored leaves drift slowly down to land on the water with hardly a ripple. It's beautiful. Then something moves, and in an instant the bobber is gone. I felt like I had been yanked off the surface and was being pulled to the bottom too quickly to adjust to the changing water pressure. I cried out to God to reel me back in, to help me get back to where I needed to be.
It occurred to me a few minutes ago though that those are the easy times. Pouring hot coffee on your crotch causes an instant explosion and lurch of movement. It doesn't take any great spiritual insight to see that the situation is not being responded to in the most Godly manner, like Christ, and that you're no longer finely positioned where God wants you. At least it worked that way with me. When you get yanked or knocked off course, you can feel it. It's obvious and the solution is obvious as well. That makes those situations easy.
But what if the water appears to stay still and calm? Nothing seems to change. It's so peaceful and tranquil that you start watching the squirrels and follow the path of a floating leaf for a few minutes. Then a thought pops into the quietness of the mind with a sudden understanding that if the leaf has a path, the water is not as still as it appears. You look back for your bobber and can't find it. It's slowly, quietly, without ruckus or warning, drifted away from the area you want to fish. The only solution is to reel back in, and recast to get back in place. And the longer it takes to notice the drift, which by nature is so slow that it doesn't draw attention, the longer the fish are not going to be exposed to the line.
We can be like that. The difference is that God never loses sight of where we are, but unlike an inanimate fishing bobber, this is a relationship. God wants us to understand and know where we are in relation to where He wants and needs us. So when we begin to drift, He wants us to realize it and ask for repositioning so that we can continue to fish in the waters He has called us to and in the condition that we need to be in spiritually to do the work. That means we need to be careful to frequently take stock of our position and our relationship with Daddy.
Today, let us be as aware of where we are spiritually as possible, by grace and conscious contact with the Holy Spirit, so that we will notice the beginnings of a drift as quickly as we notice something jerking us out of position. And let us remember that by keeping our eyes on Him and remembering the truth that we have been taught as we go through our day we can prevent drifting.
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