DAILY DEVOTIONAL – September 22, 2020
“Slow Fade”
Prayer: Lord Jesus You are the anchor for our soul; our very present help in trouble. By Your strength and mercy keep our eyes and ears focused on You, trusting in Your faithfulness to guide us safely to shore in the midst of life’s storms. Amen.
Scripture: Hebrews 2:1-3
Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Devotion – “Slow Fade”
There is a song written by the Christian band Casting Crowns that is entitled, “Slow Fade.” Here are some of the lyrics.
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you’re thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
When the book of Hebrews warns about drifting from faith, it’s talking about a slow fade. Now when Scripture talks about drifting from faith, it’s not necessarily meaning a complete abandonment of faith. More commonly it means a drifting from the discipleship, the discipline of faith; from the confidence, from the hope, from the certainty of and awareness of God’s presence in our life and God’s workings in our life. It is a drift from the responsibilities in our lives as Christians, and the basic daily exercises of our faith.
When we hear “drifting from faith,” it’s hard not to think of Peter on the Sea of Galilee. How Peter, over the tops of towering storm waves, walked on water out to Jesus. Peter doing the impossible because at that moment all of his focus, all of his cares and concerns, his everything and his all, was in Jesus Christ. But then, as we know, the moment Peter was distracted and took notice of the immensity of the storm, he dropped into the ocean.
Peter’s faith had failed, and now he was fighting to keep his head above water. He cried out to Jesus, “Lord save me!” I love what the Bible says happened next in Matthew 14. After Peter cried out to Jesus, it says “Immediately, Jesus reached out and grabbed Peter’s hand.” That same Lord who invited Peter to come out and walk atop the waves of the storm, is the same Lord who invites you and I to walk on top of the storms of our life as we pay ever closer attention to His Word and keep our focus on Him alone in all that we do. You know friends, like Peter, we will fail in our faith and focus, we will get distracted, but that same Lord who stood on the stormy waters and was already there to pull Peter up and out of the water, is that same Lord who is already here with you and I and will save us and forgive us of our sins and failures. And as He pulls us up, He will encourage us with the same loving rebuke He gave to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When the waves of life are at their highest, that is when we must remember the Word of our Lord in Scripture…words that we have paid attention to faithfully. Words like those found in Psalm 93:
The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty.
Let us pay close attention to what we have heard my friends, so that we do not drift away. And remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
