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Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we
have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. (Hebrews 2:1)
Paul Simon sang a song that
expresses the sentiment of this verse.
“Slip sliding away, slip sliding away; you know the nearer your
destination, the more you’re slip sliding away.” Anyone who has ever traveled understands that
a journey of any distance is made up of more than just the point of origination
and the final destination. There are
usually several stops along the way, some planned and some unplanned. Sometimes those stops, especially the
unplanned ones, can delay or even divert our arrival. They may even prove to be detrimental to our
final goal.
For Christians, our final
destination is eternity in the presence of our Lord, but before we reach our
eternal abode, we are faced with obstacles along the way that have a way of
distracting us from our ultimate goal.
When we perceive apparent barriers to our Christian walk, we should not
be taken off guard or caught by surprise. With God’s Word, we
are not without counsel. Indeed, when we
encounter such roadblocks, as our verse says, “we ought to give more earnest
heed to the things we have heard [from God’s Word], lest at any time we should
let them slip.” The phrase “more earnest”
is one word in the Greek (perissostéroos) which means “more
superabundant,” and the word translated “heed” is prosecho, which means to
“hold the mind.” When combined, these
words encourage us to focus our minds intently on the Word of God so that we do
not go “slip sliding away” from God’s purpose for our lives. “For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
So, how do we keep from “slip
sliding away”? As the children of Israel
prepared to enter into the Promised Land, they were facing many obstacles
ahead. God encouraged Joshua with these
words: “This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then
thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”
(Joshua 1:8). The way to be successful
in the Christian walk is to heed and
practice the Word of God. The
psalmist echoes this axiom: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). If
you do not want to go “slip sliding away,” you must anchor your life to the
Word of God.
