DRIFTING AWAY FROM THE FAITH

SERIES: THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS.

TEXT: HEBREWS 2:1.

 

As the pilgrim journeyed on his way to the celestial city, he and companions saw a beautiful side road that seemed to go to the same celestial city. It looked smoother unlike the conventional way that was rough and rugged. They decided to take this road. They followed it, with the celestial city ahead of them. It was smoother than the way they had walked before. However, after some tens of kilometers further they looked for the celestial city and saw it behind them!! Little did they know that the smooth road was bending slowly and slowly away from the direction of the city they were going to.

In the faith of a Christian this small change of direction, repeated over and over shifts the direction one is heading and finally a pilgrim finds oneself facing another direction from the direction one started. It is called drifting. It occurs in small steps that are hard to notice immediately but in the long run one finds oneself to have moved away from the original scope of the journey. A boat left, floating on water drifts slowly and slowly into the deep sea. How does drifting away from the faith occur?

DRIFTING BY IGNORING THE WORKS ONE USED TO DO AT FIRST-Revelation 2:1-7.

• Verse 4-5, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first (their love for Jesus had reduced, grown cold). Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not I will come to you and remove your lamb stand from its place, unless you repent.”

• There are “works” this church used to do at first which as they moved on in the pilgrimage they ignored. The Lord here raises concern regarding these works. Right at the start of the christian pilgrimage just after salvation, the christian loves the Lord with great love, the christian had great zeal for the Lord. As time passes the enemy quenches this zeal for the Lord and reduces his/her works for the Lord to the basic minimum of church exercises. 

DRIFTING BY LOSING FOCUS-Col. 3:1-2.

• The promises of God, upon salvation, is what creates zeal for the believers; focusing one’s life on what the LORD has promised, spiritual and physical.
• It is very easy to lose taste of what the Lord promises and settle for less-what the world offers. Many of the promises of the Lord are in the future, the devil and the world offers things immediately (a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush).
• Waiting is hard. Many of the greatest promises of God require waiting. The 5 foolish virgins waited (and got tired), their lambs ran out of oil as the bridegroom delayed-Matt. 25:1-13.

IGNORING PRAYER.

• The word of God tells us, “pray without ceasing”–1st Thess. 5:17. Easier said than done.
• The pilgrimage journey is a spiritual journey, not a physical one, one has to seek guidance from the Lord on how to move in this journey, which direction to go, from time to time. Without prayer the pilgrim will detour from the course set for the journey and end up in another direction.

IGNORING READING OF THE BIBLE.

• • 2nd Timothy 3:16, all scripture is God-breathed, God is the source of scripture.
  • Psalm 19:7-11. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul….. the reading of scripture from day to day brings revival, new energy to the soul. Moreover, by them your servant is warned-Vs. 11.

• Acts 20:32, “I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

CONCLUSION

• Any believer can drift away from the faith. guard against ignoring the works you did at first, against ignoring prayer and ignoring reading of the Bible.