For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away...

Hebrews 2:1, NASB

Our friend's son was about three years old the day of his big adventure. His mother was vacuuming, so she did not hear him when he somehow got the door open and went outside. His Big Wheel tricycle was parked near the driveway, and he hopped on board. How he made it all the way down that sloping road without tipping his vehicle or getting hit by a passing car is anyone's guess, but somehow, he made it about a half mile down that winding path all the way to the highway. 

His mother didn't even know he was gone!

She found out when she heard over the din of her vacuuming a knocking at the door. It was a kind stranger with her son in tow asking if this little guy belonged to her.

Now we might be quick to condemn the mother, but perhaps we shouldn't be so hasty to do so, for all of us who have been parents have been there - and probably on more than one occasion. We have had something that had to be done and had told our kids to stay out of trouble. But still, there are times when we discover that they are old enough to figure out how to open doors that would have been better to have remained locked, and they wander off. It doesn't matter that we have told them a thousand times to stay close and out of trouble. Their curious but immature minds just don't always allow them to pay as close attention as they should.

I believe this is the motivation behind the caution that we read in the passage above. God has given us more than adequate instruction to keep us on the straight and narrow path, but sometimes we still wander off. Maybe it's because we are young in the faith, or maybe it's because we just haven't matured in that faith as much as we should, but the outcome is the same. Because we have failed to pay close attention to God's instruction, we find ourselves having drifted away. And if some kind stranger does not come to our rescue, there is no telling how far from home we will get.

So the solution, whether we are three year-old boys or fully grown adults, is the same: Pay attention! Our parents did not give us the cautions that they did without good reason, and neither does God. He knows that we are immature at times, and He knows that we will not always pay as close attention to His warnings as we should, but He gives us the warnings all the same. And if we are wise, we will heed those warnings, because no one wants to find themself far from home with little prospects for making it back on our own.