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It was the 2022 Winter Olympics. The best of the best. 

In the Nordic combined cross country ski event, going in to the last day, the one who crossed the finish line and won the gold was not the winner people expected at the start of the last day’s event. Norwegian’s Jarl Magnus Riiber went into the final day with over a two minute lead. This would be hard to overcome. But Riiber made a very costly mistake. He drifted off the official path and fell behind. Norway’s Joergen Graabak came from behind and won the gold. Riiber corrected himself but too late – he took eighth. 

Drifting is costly – in a cross country and in our spiritual journey. That’s why God warns us in Hebrews to stay the course – and the book gives two key ways to prevent drifting:

Hebrews 3:1 – Fix our thoughts on Jesus … our mind needs to be anchored on Jesus … filtering everything through the Word

Hebrews 12:2 – Fix your eyes on Jesus … take your eyes off the other stuff and focus on the one thing, Jesus

The key is keeping focused on a point of reference, like a ship that focuses on the lighthouse to stay the course and not run into the dangerous reef, rocks, or shallows.

FIX YOUR EYES on JESUS! 

D.A. Carson gives a great quote about drifting and how it leads to dangerous waters …

We drift to COMPROMISE and then call it TOLERANCE
We drift to DISOBEDIENCE and then call is FREEDOM

Let’s do what we can to prevent the drift. (More on this later)