DAILY DEVOTIONAL – September 24, 2019
“Dragging Jesus”
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 – “Dragging Jesus”
Although we do not know for sure who wrote the book of Hebrews, we do know that it isn’t really a book at all, but a sermon with a brief letter attached to it. As you read through the book of Hebrews you come to see that it was written not only to the church, but to “brothers in the faith”; men who served as priests and pastors and leaders. As with any good sermon, the author and speaker will encourage his readers and listeners pay close attention to what the Word of God says. The reason we need to pay ever closer attention to the Word of God, as it says in our text, is so that we “do not drift away.”
The Bible only proves to be increasingly relevant day after day. In today’s 21st century world of constant distractions that compete for our attention, it is more important than ever to heed these words, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” The Devil and this wicked world work hard to make sure our attention is focused anywhere and everywhere except on the Word of God, the Good News of Jesus, that we have heard. “Pay much closer attention” our text says.
I know this may rub some folks the wrong way, but out of love and care for God’s people I dare to say it anyway. We have an epidemic in the church – an epidemic of complacency when it comes to the Word of God. I’m not talking about individuals, but about repeated studies that have shown Biblical literacy to be at an all-time low, as well as some general observations that I and others have made. It used to be that people actually brought their own Bible to worship and Bible studies; taking notes to review later so that the things said were remembered and digested so as to have a lasting impact. I think it’s too easy to blame power-points and technology; screens in worship services aren’t the problem. One of my mentors told me early on that in his mind and from his years of experience, the single most reliable indicator of the condition of your faith is the condition of your Bible. A well-weathered Bible is quite often the outward sign of a well-weathered faith.
If you were looking for a professional fisherman to help guide you and make your fishing expedition a success, would you choose the captain who was clean cut and pristine with nice smooth hands and an even complexion? Or would you choose the captain with hands full of callouses and a wind-beaten face who probably wasn’t too thrilled to be guiding a beginner out to sea? A well-weathered Bible is quite often the outward sign of a well-weathered faith.
I’d like to tell you the true story of a man named Joe. Joe along with his brothers and close friends were on a fishing boat returning from a multi-day deep sea fishing trip. They were about 2 hours from the Marina near Los Angeles. Joe was at the stern deck cleaning their fish while everyone else was asleep – everyone except his older brother who was piloting the vessel. Joe did something he had done hundreds of times before. It was a task so routine that its danger didn’t even cross Joe’s mind until it was too late.
Joe took an empty 5-gallon bucket and reached over the stern of the boat to get a bucket of ocean water. The boat took a wave, Joe lost his balance and in an instant was washed overboard. The noise of the boats engines muted his screams and whistles for help as the boat motored away toward the marina. Joe was alone in the Pacific ocean, ten miles from shore and without a life jacket. Worst of all, no one knew that he was overboard. His brothers and friends continued on to the marina.
Once docked at the marina, they emerged from their cabins. Not seeing Joe right away, each one assumed that Joe was still asleep in his cabin. Finally, his oldest brother knocked on Joe’s cabin door. When he discovered that Joe was no in his cabin, he knew immediately what had happened. It was 7 PM when the boat arrived at the marina. Darkness was setting in and Joe had been overboard for at least 2 hours. His brother called the police and coast guard. Ordinarily, searches are not conducted at sea at night. It’s almost impossible to find someone in this situation, but the Coast Guard knew that they had a small window of hope to rescue Joe.
Every available boat and helicopter was sent to the last known vicinity where Joe fell overboard. His brothers raced their boat back out to see, frantic that their brother was drifting alone in the dark. In an interview conducted with Joe after his rescue, Joe said, “I could see planes flying overhead, departing from LAX. I screamed and whistled hoping that maybe someone might be looking out of their window and would see me.” As darkness settled, Joe began to grow tired from treading water and trying to swim closer to shore. The Coast Guard later told him that while he could see the shore, he was more than ten miles away and the current was actually taking him further out to sea. His legs were cramping, his body growing colder, and his hope diminishing.
In the interview, Joe recalled the moment he came to grips with dying. He began thinking of how he could drown with the least amount of pain. Though it had been longer than he could remember since he last talked to God, he prayed that his father would not die of a heart attack when he heard that his youngest son had drowned. He prayed that his brother would not feel responsible for his death. He also tried to settle up things with God. Joe grew up in a Christian home and attended church, he believed in God and Jesus, even attended church most of the time. However, as Joe himself recounted, I was straddling the fence. Though his parents and brothers were always active in their faith, Joe constantly struggled to center his life on what he knew was most important.
Now, miles from shore and certain rescue was an impossibility, Joe asked Jesus to forgive him and have mercy on him and save him from hell if this was indeed to be the end of his life on earth.
Exhausted and in full survival mode, Joe could see helicopters with their search lights looking for him. Again, he tried to yell, whistle and splash water, but his attempts to get their attention were in vain. He could see his brother’s boat also looking, but they were too far away. Finally, at about midnight, a full seven hours after he went in the water, one Coast Guard boat ventured closer than anyone had come all night. Joe whistled. Thankfully, this Coast Guard boat had turned off their engines while they searched the local area and were able to hear Joe’s cries for help. They tried closing in on Joe’s whistles and screams. By God’s grace, it was the last rescue boat sent out from the Marina found Joe and rescued him. You can read Joe’s personal account at http://360tuna.com.
“We must pay more careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” The imminent reality of death awakened Joe spiritually and made him realize that he was drifting dangerously far away from the safe harbor of a committed relationship of faith with Jesus long before he found himself drifting perilously out into the Pacific Ocean.
The author of Hebrews gives us the warning to pay ever more careful attention to the Word of God so that we don’t realize we are drifting away only after we have fallen overboard.
When the book of Hebrews warns about drifting from faith, it does not necessarily mean 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 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 and that Jesus spoke repeatedly about: like reading and studying Scripture, regular and faithful fellowship with our family of faith in the church and a consistent prayer life that is deeper than a religious routine and that extends beyond our immediate needs.
When I reflect on how easy it is to get distracted and drift from the Word of God and, when the worries and temptations of this life drift us out and away from God’s harbor, I can’t help but 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. And you know what 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.
In closing today, I would like to share with you a tactic that the U.S. Navy uses. It is called the “drag”. At first this technique may sound counter-intuitive, but I assure you they do it for good reason. The “drag” technique is performed when a huge Navy ship will cast their anchor into the water while they are moving through the water and drag it behind them. Why do they do this?
- To control their speed
- To make it easier to steer
- To detect objects that are unseen underneath the surface of the water
We would do well to do as the Navy does. Cast Christ and His Word as our anchor everyday so that you can sail at His speed, so that He can help you steer and navigate through treacherous waters, and so He as the Lord who sees all and who is Lord over all may bless us in ways unseen and protect us from enemies unseen.
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.
