Hebrews 2:1-4 (NIV – UK)

Warning to pay attention

¹ We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, ³ how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. ⁴ God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

SO GREAT A SALVATION

Lots of things are bidding for our attention – some good, some bad. But I wonder how we react when we read the first verse: ‘We must pay the most careful attention’. Not ‘we must pay a bit of attention’ or ‘we must add it to the list of things we’ll get round to paying attention to’ – no, we must pay the MOST careful attention.

So what are we to pay this most careful attention to? The salvation announced by Jesus (v. 2-3). If we are just about to cross the road and somebody shouts out to warn us ‘watch out, there’s a bus coming!’ we ignore that warning at our peril – and the consequences of ignoring that warning are catastrophic! It’s the same here – there is just punishment to those who ‘ignore so great a salvation’ (v. 3). Jesus announced it, and now we are tasked with passing it on – the glorious news of salvation in Jesus and the danger of ignoring it.

It is easy to slip into a lifestyle of paying attention to the plethora of stiumlants the world has to offer. The challenge for us is to pay the most careful attention to the Gospel of Jesus and the salvation found in him. Is that in our minds in our waking and sleeping? The Gospel is an urgent matter – salvation in Jesus is where we find life.

Question: If you think of your day-to-day life, what is it that holds your attention? Do you feel as if the Gospel of Jesus is an urgent matter?