Anyone who has owned a boat will know that securing the mooring line is one of the most important tasks to avoid an expensive disaster. A boat that becomes untethered to its mooring will drift immediately. The result will be either an expensive collision with another boat or wharf, being washed ashore and damaged, or drifting out to sea and being lost altogether. As we begin a new series looking at the return of the exiles in Ezra-Nehemiah, the metaphor of drift becomes abundantly clear and important in a spiritual sense.
The story of the returning exiles, and our story so often if we are honest, is that we have a natural tendency to drift from God if we don’t intentionally keep ourselves tethered to him. For the returning exiles there were high expectations of building the temple, re-establishing the covenant, and living again as the people of God in the land he had given them, but subsequently thrust them from some 70 years earlier for their rebellion. Yet as we read the story, which covers about 105 years, we find that once again the people drift so easily from God. They start abusing the poor, marrying foreign women which leads them into idolatry, neglecting the worship and building of the temple, and exploiting and enslaving their own people.
I’m sure they didn’t intend to do any of these things when they set out from Babylon with high hopes of returning home to their land and to the free worship of God again as his beloved people. But it happened; they drifted, and drifted badly. They became disconnected from God and their relationship with him, to the distress of both Ezra and Nehemiah who were seeking to keep them faithful to God and his covenant. It is easy for us to look from afar with a judgmental eye and tut-tut about how we would not have done that. But I am not so sure. I think if we are honest we all have a tendency to drift, and that is part of the human condition and the shadow side of free will.
But there are things that, like a mooring line, can keep us connected to God and stop us drifting and coming to grief, or causing damage to others or the world around us. These things are simple in themselves, yet so easily are viewed as legalistic or a “to do list” to be a “good Christian”. Rather we should see them as life saving graces that help us keep our souls intact, and our relationships healthy with God and each other. They are sometimes called “Spiritual disciplines” and for good reason, because if we are not disciplined in them they just won’t happen – and we will drift. They include the simple steps of daily Bible engagement, daily honest prayer with God, regular time out to be still in God’s presence, preferencing God in all aspects of our life, and being in community with others who can help encourage us in our spiritual journey. Of course there are others, however, these basic activities carried out with an open heart to God will keep us tethered to him and prevent us from drifting. In reality they are no different to the ways we need to keep connected to another human being, be that spouse, parent, friend or sibling. Without regular connection, we drift relationally. These are not rules – they are the lifeline of our souls, and we disregard them at our peril. Jesus himself practiced them regularly and we would do well to walk in his footsteps.
Grace and Peace - Garry