I was reading in Hebrews 1 recently where the author gave his argument that Christ is supremely better than angels because He is the Son of God. He will go on to a second argument that further proves Christ’s superiority, but before he does, he pauses to inject the first of a number of solemn warnings that are found in this letter.
It is a warning against drifting away from the message of the Gospel, and it begins Chapter 2. “We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.” [vs 1 HCSB]
Those who hear the Gospel are to give serious attention to it. The verb for “pay even more attention” means not only to turn our minds to something, but also to act upon what we see. Inaction in spiritual truths can prove a fatal mistake.
The writer tells us that the danger of failing to pay attention and failing to act is that we might “drift away.” This is the only time this Greek word is used. It is a vivid picture for a person who lets himself or herself drift or slip away from the refuge of the Gospel.
We know that in our culture there are many who ridicule and oppose the Good News found in Christ Jesus (the Gospel). And they are not afraid to say so and back up their opposition with action. The Bible is clear that they will suffer loss. But we don’t need to violently oppose the Gospel to suffer loss, we need only drift away from it. Verse 3 asks a vital question, one that we must answer: “how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”
There is no escape if we neglect the salvation God has provided through His Son. We must be careful to pay attention to all of Scripture, so that might not let the Good News slip through our fingers.
