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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 3, NUMBER 28, AUGUST 10, 2003SLIP AWAYA week ago Saturday Vicky and I went down to the Blues Festival at Sawyer Point in Cincinnati. We parked in Newport and walked across the Purple PeopleBridge to get there, crossing the Ohio River. On numerous occasions we have gone to Newport on the Levy and walked around to watch the river flow by. There is just something about the river for me. I can sit and watch it for hours and I like to walk along it. In Louisville there was a walk right along the river that was several miles long and I would often go down there and watch things flow by me as they were carried by the current of the mighty Ohio. Watching things flow by in the river reminds me of what we read in Hebrews 2:1-3. The Hebrew writer wrote, “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. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” The specific phrase that came to mind was the last part of verse 1, “lest at any time we should let them slip.” The word for “slip” in that passage means to “flow by, to glide away”. The image is that of someone standing on the bank of a river or stream allowing something of value to flow right on pass, to glide by without retrieving it or benefiting from it. That which we must never allow to “flow by or to glide away” is the Word of God; in which is revealed, “so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Hebrews 2:3). If we go back and do a brief survey of chapter 1, we find why it is so important that we never let the Word flow by us. We will see why it is so important that we never forget the Word or be indifferent to it. In Hebrews 1, verses 2 and 10, we find that Jesus was the agent of creation. We find that He “made the worlds” and “in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the works of His hands.” In 1:3, we find that Jesus is “the express image” of the Father and “upholds all things by the word of His power.” In 1:4, we find Jesus exalted far above the angels. Therefore, because of the exalted position of the Lord Jesus and what is contained in the words he has spoken, it is right and proper that we should give the most strict attention to the things spoken by the Lord personally and to those things taught by inspiration through his apostles. Have you ever stopped to think about the “great salvation” revealed in the Word of God? Have you ever really considered what it is that makes it great and why we must not let it flow by us without reaching out and grabbing it? Oh brethren, the salvation available to all is great because of the greatness of the Savior who achieved it. It is great because of the greatness of the torment from which it rescues the sinner. It is great because of the greatness of the eternal reward in heaven provided by it. It is great because of the greatness of the Savior’s love that underlies it. It is great because of the greatness of the certainties upon which it is grounded. And it is great because it is available to everyone: male or female, black or white, red or yellow, rich or poor, educated or uneducated.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful for all of us to consider every sermon from
God’s Word, every bible class that it true to the book, and every article we
read that is faithful and true as a river of opportunity?
Think of each presentation of the Word of God as something that is to be
reached for and grabbed before it flows by.
Don’t neglect the occasions, don’t let the opportunities flow by!
Reach out and take hold of the Word of God.
It contains the revelation of the “great salvation”.
It is the “power of God unto salvation” (Rom. Greg Litmer A CLEAN BASKETEmmy was 40 years old when she was baptized. She had always lived on a farm, gone only through the 8th grade and never could memorize. “I want to learn the Scriptures,” she said to the preacher, “but I can’t. I don’t remember a thing, it does no good to study.” “Bring that basket over to the pump,” said the preacher. “This dirty old potato basket?” “Yes, now fill it with water.” Emmy was puzzled, but she pumped the water into the basket. Of course, the water ran out as fast as it went in, no matter how hard Emmy labored. After a short time the preacher told her to stop and to look into the basket. “I don’t see anything,” said Emmy, ‘except that all the dirt is gone, and it is clean inside.” “Then let that be a lesson, Emmy. The scriptures can be like that water. Always run them through your mind, and even if they don’t stay there, don’t say they won’t do any good. The word of God will leave the mind clean, just as the water left this basket clean.” Author unknown
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