SPIRITUAL DRIFTING PROVERBS 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. REVELATION 3:16-18 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. The drifting of the Laodicean happens so subtly that he is unaware of the decline of his spiritual perception and vigor. What happens when a person begins drifting is that human nature deceives him to judge two things wrongly: 1) the quality of his own spirituality and therefore, 2) the use of his time. Consider the process of the Laodiceans decline: Does he stop to consider himself as loving death? On the contrary, his nature is selling him on what it calls enjoying life. However, the reality is that because he enjoys it so much, he thinks that he is fine the way he is. He, though, is guilty of a very serious sin: presumption. This is a sin in which ignorance frequently plays only a small part. When someone is presumptuous, knowledge of what is right is usually available, but he does not think his intent and conduct through to a right conclusion. On the other hand, carelessness plays a large role in presumption. The Laodiceans should have known better than what their actions reveal. Their lackadaisical approach to spiritual matters, to their Savior who died for them, has earned His stinging rebuke. Leviticus 4:2 zeroes in on this sin, revealing that it may be more serious than one might suppose. The word unintentionally includes more than simply lack of intention, as when a person sins and says, I really didnt mean it. That is not wrong, but it misses some of the point because that conclusion is shallow and broad. In spite of the sinners feelings about his intent as he actually committed the act, the term sin still appears in Gods charge, and he continues to turn aside, wander, err, make a mistake, miss the mark, and go off the path. Though unintentional, the act is still a sin. Consider the possible effects of such a sin. How many deaths have occurred where a person did something seriously wrong yet claims, I didnt mean for that to happen? What could happen if someone is cruising along, not concentrating on his driving, and drifts into oncoming traffic, smashing into another car and killing its occupants? How many people have been killed because a drivers attention was diverted by a cell phone? Just because a sin is unintentional does not mean it is not serious. Such a sin is often one of careless, impatient, lackadaisical neglect. It is the ignoring of a higher priority. It is in reality often a sin of presumption, an ignoring of God and His law. It includes sins done with a degree of consciousness, a level of awareness of what ones responsibilities are. Even though not arrogantly and deliberately done, they are in reality done willingly. These can be quite serious. Exodus 20:7, the third commandment, reads, You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Because we have been baptized and have received Gods Spirit, we have taken on the name Christian. We are children of God, followers of Christ, and as such, we bear the Family name, an honor not lightly bestowed. Recall again that to whom much is given, the more shall be required. God warns that we must not bear that holy name carelessly, that is, to no good purpose. He will not hold us guiltless. That name must be borne responsibly in dignified honor to Him, to His Family, and to its operations and purposes. Can we afford to be presumptuously negligent in this privileged responsibility? It is right here that knowledge of Gods justice should come to a Christians mind. It does this because the Christian sees God—not literally, of course, but spiritually, in his minds eye, because he knows Him. Notice the use of the word wanders. Gods children do not ordinarily deliberately plan to go astray, but whether they do or do not, regardless of the intention, the result is the same. Hebrews 2:1-3 provides an illustration in which there is no deliberate intention to sin: Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. The metaphor in lest we drift away is of a boat slipping its moorings and drifting away, caught in the currents it was tied against. Paul makes clear that the spiritual drifting is the result of neglecting the priorities set by our calling into the Kingdom of God, just as a boat will drift away if it is not tied securely. Other parts of the book of Hebrews show that neglect becomes a factor when one is not consciously living a purposely directed life. The epistles recipients were neglectfully drifting through life. Hebrews 5:11-14 shows us the result: . . . of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. These people had become dull of hearing and apparently were rapidly regressing toward unconversion. Neglect is particularly spiritually dangerous. Through neglect, they were seriously drifting into a lack of faith deep enough to have to relearn the fundamentals of this way of life. When dullness of hearing is tied to Romans 10:17—faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God—we can understand that, if one does not hear correctly, motivation to live by faith greatly diminishes. Hebrews was written to encourage a congregation of neglectful and drifting people to repent, to get back on track toward the Kingdom. Considering their dullness of hearing, the book of Proverbs provides what might be a shocking reality, one we hope we will not have to face if we will repent. Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death. (Proverbs 8:32-36) Bluntly stated, Wisdoms sage and exhortative counsel is, Listen carefully and apply what I tell you diligently. If you do not, but instead live a life of sin, then the conclusion of the matter is that, in reality, you love death rather than life. Since our calling, have we ever pictured ourselves as loving death? Those who do not consciously and purposefully direct their lives by faith toward obedience to God in reality love death
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:00:00 +0000
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