“Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1).
One Biblical commentator discusses the connection between the need to listen carefully to God’s Word and the potential for drifting away from it if we neglect to do so…
“Both phrases [in Hebrews 2:1] have nautical connotations. The first refers to mooring a ship, tying it up at the dock. The second was often used of a ship that had been allowed to drift past the harbor… The closest attention must be paid to these very serious matters of the Christian faith. The readers in their tendency to apathy are in danger of making shipwreck of their lives (cf. 6:19)” (1)
Another source offers the following application…
“The author’s audience was marked by immaturity and spiritual sluggishness (5:11, 12). The author warned them not to be carried away by the popular opinions that surrounded them. Instead they were to hold fast to Christ’s words because they were the words of God. How easy it is to drift with the currents. Think of how far ‘righteous Lot’ drifted from Abraham when he turned his eyes toward Sodom. All of us are continually exposed to the currents of opinion that seem so reasonable and comfortable as contrasted to the task of fighting the rapids with our eyes focused upon our Captain (Rom. 12:2).” (2)
Finally, we have a practical application for modern-day readers of this epistle from the following author…
“It is a vivid picture of a ship drifting to destruction because the pilot sleeps. For most of us the threat of life is not so much that we should plunge into disaster, but that we should drift into sin. There are few people who deliberately and in a moment turn their backs on God; there are many who day by day drift farther and farther away from him. There are not many who in one moment of time commit some disastrous sin; there are many who almost imperceptibly involve themselves in some situation and suddenly awake to find that they have ruined life for themselves and broken someone else’s heart. We must be continually on the alert against the peril of the drifting life.” (3)
A person who rides a motorcycle, navigates a ship, or pilots an aircraft does not need to do anything to drift off course. The same is true in our spiritual lives as well. Those who neglect to anchor their relationship with Christ through prayer, reading the Scriptures, and worshiping regularly with the people of God will undoubtedly begin to drift in their relationship with Him.
(1) MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Heb 2:1). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
(2) Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (p. 1637). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
(3) Barclay, William. William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible, “Hebrews 2”