To drift means to be carried slowly by a current, to carelessly pass by.
To drift away means to lose personal contact over time.
We were hanging out with friends in the lake once when I noticed how far we had drifted from the dock. The drift happens slowly to the point we don’t even realize we have drifted away from our starting point.
Slipping away is intentional.
Jesus was continually surrounded by large multitudes who wanted to hear Him, touch Him, and receive healing from Him. He never became overwhelmed by the crowds, but always looked upon them with compassion because they were like sheep without a Shepherd. The crowds were lost, aimless, helpless and scattered, yet Jesus did not see them as hopeless. When He looked at them, He saw a huge harvest.
Jesus also knew how to withdraw from the crowds into the lonely places to pray. He knew how to slip away and spend time with His Father. Luke 5:15-16 says that “great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”
He modeled this slipping away to pray so that we may learn and do the same. Mark 3:13-14 says that Jesus called and appointed the 12 and they came to him. He appointed them that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.
We are to be with Him in the secret place so that He may send us out. We are His sheep and we go in and out and find pasture. We enter into His presence and become filled with all His fullness, then we are sent out and poured out only to return back to the secret place.
When we neglect spending time alone with our Father, we allow doubt to enter and give our feelings reign over our spirits instead of truth. We must learn to slip away with Him lest we drift away from truth. Jesus IS Truth. When we spend time with Him, we are soaking in Truth. Hebrews 2:1-4 says “ So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.“
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