Do you like being neglected? How many times have you been in a restaurant waiting to get some service but the waitress won't come to your table? What if your favorite plant or flower isn't fed? You don't just have to pour salt water or gasoline on it to kill it. It will die through simple neglect. On a much more serious note, think of all the neglected children in the world whose mothers and fathers won't provide for them. Pitiful, indeed.
I would submit to you the greatest suffering to be experienced is when a child of God "neglects" his salvation in Christ. This is the idea expressed in Heb. 2:3. The word translated "neglect" simply means "to be careless of." It refers to an attitude of heart that doesn't realize the preciousness of something possessed (i.e., salvation). The writer of Hebrews has just presented his case for the deity of Christ (Heb. 1). He has proven the Old Testament Scripture testifies of Jesus as God, quoting 7 passages as proof (vv. 5-13). He then argues that "we must give the more earnest heed..." or "pay much closer attention to what we have heard,..." (2:1). That means...don't be guilty of neglect! We'll be lost if we do.
We don't have to be guilty of blatant rebellion against God to be lost. If we don't pay close attention to what we know is written in the Scripture, we'll surely "drift" away. Notice the process of apostasy is slow, gradual. Getting lost is not just "bolting away" from God. Lost is lost; it matters little how fast one gets to such a tragic state.
What are some practical ways this could happen to even the best of us? One might reason, "I'm a strong Christian." Strength is no match for neglect; just ask a fitness expert about muscle atrophy if one doesn't exercise. We will suffer loss if we "neglect" to...
...attend faithfully (cp. Heb. 10:25). If we fail to take advantage of the strength to be gained by being with brethren, we will suffer loss.
...pray regularly (cp. 1 Thess. 5:17). If we ever stop the habit of talking to our Father, we will surely suffer loss.
...study diligently (cp. 2 Tim. 2:15). If we spend less and less time in the book of God and more time on ourselves, we will definitely suffer loss.
Christian, don't "neglect" your eternal salvation.
