Drifting

“How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?” – Proverbs 6:9

Ah, but to be a drifter. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Come on now, admit it. Following sunsets and chasing clouds to who knows where while going to bed and getting up at who knows when, sparks the spirit of adventure in most of us – no responsibilities, schedules or deadlines. NO stress tabs for this guy. He knows nothing of time or ties. You won’t find an anchor in his boat – not the drifter. The tide is his mistress and the wind his guide. While he answers to no one but his own whims, he secretly delights in the fact that the world envies his unchecked freedom.

What a way to live! No question about it. This is the good life. Or is it? As delightful and appealing as all this might sound, there is one major flaw in his character – he has none. He is unfruitful, a sure sign of decay. He plants no seed and sees no harvest. The guilt of having accomplished nothing yesterday is buried under the pleasure of today. And as for tomorrow, what’s that? The drifter is not in a race, but a rut. He has no goals and achieves nothing of value. His life has no defined purpose but to fulfill the wanderlust and escape the yoke of responsibility, which to him, plagues the rest of society.

Words like commitment, roots, goals, and purpose are anathema to his lifestyle. His independent indulgent spirit reflects a theology that says there is no God, and since you only go around once in life, you had better grab for all the gusto you can. “So what’s all this have to do with me?” you might ask. “I’m responsible. I have a job, a family, a thirty year mortgage.” Strange, isn’t it? We see ourselves as pretty solid citizens with all our ducks in order, yet Paul used some strong language for those who seemed so stable. They were “tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). James put it this way, “he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed” (James 1:6b) - in other words a drifter, a spiritual vagabond. We have a good feeling about ourselves when our material world is shipshape. This must have been what Jesus meant when He spoke of straining at gnats and swallowing camels. The outside of the Pharisee looked great but his inner world was spiritually bankrupt.

Maybe you drifted a bit spiritually this year. It’s not too late for a mid-course correction. Should you have any questions on how to do a 180, consult the biblical manual on drifting. It is entitled Jonah. That’s the way I see things.