Drifting

Hebrews 3:15
....."Today when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts."

What does it mean to have a hard heart, when it comes to hearing God?
Well, it means that you have had contact with Him.
It means that He has communicated with you.
It means that you have rejected His directives for whatever reason you can come up with.
You have decided to follow your will instead of His will.
Such a decision that is carried out over time creates a hard heart within us.
We no longer are able to "hear" God.
We no longer are under His grace.
We no longer are walking according to His will, but have removed ourselves from it to follow our own sinful passions and desires.

Here in the book of Hebrews, the author is warning believers.
Warning them about not allowing their hearts to become cold and numb to the leading of God's Holy Spirit.
Notice when the author says to be aware of such a thing....
TODAY!!
Right now...
This minute....
It can and will happen if we are not keeping aware of our own hearts.
I don't really believe anyone gets up in the morning and willfully says, "You know what? I think I'll just quit following Jesus today. I think I'll just go sin till I can't sin anymore."
I believe that hard hearts happen over time. The passage from Hebrews is a warning to always be mindful of our decisions and where we are getting them from.

Hebrews 2:1
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift from it.
Listen?
With our ears...
And with our heart....
When you're walking daily with Jesus, the truth will ring out in your heart when you hear it. You'll have a knowing deep inside that what you have heard is true and will keep you on the right path. As the passage above states, we must listen carefully, and then apply what we hear to our daily life. If we don't...if we simply hear the truth and file it away somewhere....we will begin to drift away.

Best example I can think of when it comes to "drifting away", happens every year when we go to Florida. There is always someone in the ocean floating on an air mattress. They fall asleep and are paying no attention to where they are. Suddenly they wake up, look around and they are a thousand yards from the shore. Lifeguards are blowing whistles to bring them back in....they panic because they suddenly remember the young girl at the beginning of JAWS!!! They didn't set out to drift that far...it just happened because they weren't paying attention. And the same thing applies to us spiritually when it comes to our daily life. If we are paying attention to God's truth...if we are simply out there winging it....we are drifting. Drift far enough away and you might not be able to make it back. I don't have to tell you that it probably will not end good with that kind of behavior.
Stay alert....
Stay focused....
Stay hungry for God....

God on you...
mbb