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.
Hebrews 2:3
Some people have the gift. You know what gift I’m talking about. The gift of ignoring. They seem to be able to look straight through people and situations. By some mystical gift of internal power, they can look straight through anyone and everyone. They seem to be able to live in this bubble, and they aren’t bothered by anything.
Hard as it is to believe, I’m not like this at all. I have to see and notice each and every little detail. If a meteor flies across the sky, I see it. If a leaf drops from a tree, I see it. If an ant stops to clean their sunglasses, I see that too.
This is part of the reason that writing these can be so hard. Yes, I love writing them for you. I’m over the moon thrilled when someone sends me a note, telling me how much one of them meant to them.
But staying focused for long enough to write one of these is basically impossible for me. My life is a series of moments broken up with a never-ending string of interruptions and distractions. Just now, I stopped to take a drink and my eyes saw something on another screen. I stopped to see what it was and that reminded me of something I have to do later today. And so it goes on. And on. And on.
The writer to the Hebrews warns them not to ignore the great salvation they’ve received. They can’t be careless with their time and attention when it comes to their escaping the power of the evil one through the power of God. They are to treat it with the great respect that it deserves. It’s so special that they’re to pay close attention to it.
It’s like a room full of people watching the Super Bowl and someone make a game-winning play. Everyone jumps up and down. They’re all yelling and screaming each time the replay shows exactly what happened from a dozen different camera angles. And after all the excitement dies down, someone turns to their neighbor and asks what just happened. They were playing solitaire on their phone and missed it all.
It's like living here in Florida during college football season. Everyone’s busy and has a full life. The weather’s good, so people are out shopping or working in their gardens. Some go fishing or hunting. Their lives are full and active. That is, until the Florida – Florida State football game comes on. Then it happens.
Life comes to a complete standstill here in Florida. The stores are empty. The roads are completely abandoned. Husbands tell their wives to wait till the end of the game before heading to the ER to deliver their babies. Everything, and I mean everything, craws to a complete standstill. Everything else is ignored because something so important is going on that everything takes a back seat.
You see, we were completely lost. Totally powerless to change. Unable to do even one little thing that God might think was good. And it was into our total sin and darkness that Jesus came. He died in our place, paying our debt and releasing us from the slavery we’d sold ourselves into.
I hope that you start to see the picture. The picture of how great this salvation is. We had an impossible debt over us. It was an eternal invoice that was marked “balance due” in big, red letters. There wasn’t a single thing that we could do to even begin repaying it.
So, when Christ volunteers to pay our eternal debt to God for us, what’s our response? How do you say thank you to someone who’s just lifted that kind of weight off your shoulders.
The answer is really very simple. You fall down and worship them. We sing songs of praise. Since they volunteered to pay our debt, we volunteer to do whatever they want. We’re ready, willing, and able to do anything that pleases them.
You see, this is the great kind of salvation that God’s given. We provided nothing but sin while he’s provided all the payment. He takes on all the pain and suffering while we get all the blessings and benefits.
God gives nothing but a great salvation. Period. It’s not your average, run-of-the-mill salvation. It’s not the normal kind of salvation where we try to help out God by trying to do the small and weak things we can do. No. it’s a great kind of salvation, the only kind that our great God could give.
That’s why the writer asks the question about escaping this great salvation. The short answer is that there’s really no other way than receiving God’s gift of salvation in Jesus. Any other way or attempt to earn forgiveness and salvation by ourselves is a complete waste of time.
So, have you received that great gift? Or are you still fooling around, trying to make yourself better. To pay for your own debt before God? To try and make yourself better in your own strength? There’s no getting around it. We either receive His salvation or we ignore it and him. It’s really that simple. So, today’s the day to stop ignoring God and all he’s done for us.
Noodling Questions
Were you born with the gift of ignoring or have you worked on it? Explain.
How has God not totally ignored you?
Why is trying to make ourselves better such a lost cause?
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