Drifting means to be carried along by a force, such as water or air.
That is a different action than deliberately choosing a direction and
maintaining it–regardless of extraneous influences.
Paul spoke
about drifting in the context of God’s Church. After introducing why
there are appointed offices within the Church, he adds this underlying
objective: “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in
the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Ephesians 4:14).
Time
and again, Christians are warned to not allow themselves to just drift
along in their lives. Ask: “Do I drift from one Sabbath to the next;
from one Holy Day to the next–without a true sense of personal focus?”
We have to do more than just “show up!”
Jesus Christ warned His
Church of a very dangerous condition of drifting–that is of ceasing to
watch, of not staying ready and engaged in the calling of God. In His
parable of the ten virgins, Jesus said, “‘they ALL slumbered and
slept’” (Matthew 25:5).
None of us wants to apply this to
ourselves–or, at least, we don’t want to be guilty of this right now!
How can we know that we are awake and ready and not asleep?
Stop
drifting! Look closely; examine yourself by the light of God’s Word!
Here is something else Paul presented–both a goal and a way to reach
that goal so that we are not merely adrift as Christians:
“…speaking the truth in love, [that we] may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
