Drifting away

Restore us, O LORD, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had! (Lamentations 5:21)

Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost and chances are he will reply: ‘Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one. Eventually it nibbles on a tuft of green grass next to a hole in the fence, and then goes on to the next tuft it sees on the other side. Before you know it, the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.’

The point is that people don’t usually realize they are drifting away from the security and love of home until it is too late. Many workaholics are shocked when their spouse files for divorce and custody of the children; they didn’t realize how the ever increasing hours spent in the office or on the road had been gradually stealing more and more of their time away from their family, until the neglected relationship withered and died.

This happens to Christians, too. A person is baptized and confirmed in the church, but then attendance starts to drop off; there are other things to do that start getting in the way of coming to worship or studying the Bible or even praying. Life seems to get too busy, too exhausting, to shoehorn in time for God. And anyway, He will understand that you are just too busy to spend quality time with Him right now; maybe in a few weeks, when things slow down…and one day you find that you have abandoned God and His house.

Does this describe you? Have you fallen out of the habit of attending church or reading the Bible or praying? It is not too late to turn things around. God does not want to divorce you; so long as you still draw breath, He wants you back in His loving arms. Start by praying—pray today. Tell the Lord that you are sorry for neglecting your relationship with Him, and ask Him to forgive you for Jesus’ sake. Set aside time every day to pray, a time when you won’t be distracted--maybe while driving to work or as you take a shower. Next, find a house of worship and go. If you are too embarrassed to go back to the congregation you have been absent from, go to a different one—just get yourself into a place where you are surrounded by fellow believers in Jesus Christ. And finally, blow the dust off your Bible and start reading it—start with one of the four Gospels, and let Jesus remind you how wonderful it can be to spend time with Him.