In Danger Of Drifting By The Gospel

We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
–Hebrews 2:1

One man in Matthew 13:44–46 stumbled across a treasure; the other man found a valuable pearl after a long search. But both men understood the value of the treasure they had found. Not to have done so would have been foolish.

Yet there are many people today who hear the gospel but do not recognize its value. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul wrote, “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” The natural man is a person without Christ. Unless the Holy Spirit is working in someone’s heart, that unsaved person cannot understand the value of the gospel.

Second, both men decided to obtain the treasure. Imagine these men had said to themselves, “I know this treasure I have found is valuable, but I do not want to move money around in my bank account.” Or, “I do not want to explain to my family why I sold everything in order to obtain this.” Or, “I do not want to readjust my priorities.” That would have been the ultimate in foolishness to say, “Yes, this is of great value, but I do not want to make the effort to obtain it.”

Yet many people do that with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They say, “I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I know that I need Him as my Savior. And one day, I may do whatever I need to do to inherit eternal life. But right now, I am just too busy.” I think of the Roman procurator Felix. After Paul shared the gospel with him, Felix said, in essence, “Paul, I will have you come back and share this again at a more convenient time” (Acts 24:25).

You might be in danger of making that very mistake. You have heard the gospel over and over again. You recognize its value. But you have either rejected the message or simply neglected the message, saying, “Someday, I will take care of it.” The writer of Hebrews had a stern warning for people with that attitude toward the treasure of the gospel. Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” That phrase “drift away” refers to a sailor who accidentally passes the harbor because of his inattention. In the same way, we better be careful that we do not drift by the safe harbor of salvation, because we may never have another chance to tie up to the gospel. These two men, when they understood the value of the treasure, decided to do what was necessary to obtain the treasure.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “The Treasure And The Pearl” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2005.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org