Hebrews 2:1 — 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.

In my quiet time this morning, I found my attention being stolen away. It wasn’t, as sometimes happens, the Holy Spirit refocusing my attention. It was real distraction, by my surroundings and by thoughts pouring in like the tide. Does that ever happen to you?
It’s the same in daily life, too. There are days when it seems that there are a thousand distractions to knock us off our proper course.
Taking a verse out of context is a risky business, and when a verse has “therefore” as it’s first word, it’s clear that there is a broader context — but I don’t think I’m too far astray with my thoughts about this one.
Hebrews 2:1 provides a warning and a protection and the context, if we explore it, an explanation.
Alexander Mclaren points out that “we should let them slip” might better be translated “we drift away from them”. The image is very clear. We should be tied to an anchor point, securely tied — not drifting, not swept away by the tide.
From this, we can first see the warning. The context makes it clear that our faith is like a boat bobbing on a dangerous sea, tied by our devotion to the anchor point provided by God’s Word. We start, as new Christians, full of enthusiasm. As time goes by familiarity can untie the knot, and we can be swept away by a tide of indifference. Or another tide, the tide of peer pressure, can seek to sweep us into a sea of conformity. Then there’s the tide — the tidal wave — of daily life threatening to overwhelm us. These are just a few of the tides that can set us adrift from the Word.
Returning to our verse, we can see that it clearly identifies our protection. It’s not faith alone, nor yet the Word itself that will keep,us anchored. “We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.” That’s another way of saying that we have to work hard — we have to paddle against the tides that seek to sweep us into a sea of unbelief. We need to be constantly reading our Bible, studying, staying fresh. Nor is study, alone, enough. We must constantly be putting our lessons in to practice. We must be actively paddling against the tide.
What is the explanation for this warning and advice? If the importance of staying anchored is not self evident what goes before this verse and what follows surely provides all the reinforcement we need. First, there is the person of Jesus, whose superiority is laid out in the first chapter.
Second, laid out in the verses that follow, is the danger of neglecting God’s Word and the punishment that will follow.
There is no safety in staying at rest. We will be swept away. We have to keep paddling against the tide!