In her later years, my beloved mother took a long trip with me to a Christian family camp where I was speaking. On the way home she confided in me that one of her worst fears was that, as her health declined, she might not even remember her children or their names. Four years later, Alzheimer’s had gradually stolen her independence, dignity, and memory. One of the last times I saw her, I sat across the table from her for some time. Then a caregiver introduced me to her, giving her my name. She looked at me so puzzled and confused that it was heartbreaking. Those things she held most dear had slipped away from her memory.

When the writer of Hebrews addressed Jewish believers who were waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to return to establish His Millennial Kingdom, he warned them about one of his greatest fears. He said, “Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip…” (meaning to slip away from us, Hebrews 2:1). It is very likely this writer had in mind Israel’s persistent history of forgetting Jehovah. The Lord repeatedly warned His people, that in times of blessing in the promised land of plenty, they must “…beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:12). Despite these warnings and God’s instructions to “…take heed to thyself, and to keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart…” (Deuteronomy 4:9), they repeatedly forgot the Lord anyway. Isaiah told Israel, “…forgettest the Lord thy maker…” (Isaiah 51:13). Jeremiah described them as having “…perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God” (Jeremiah 3:21). The writer of Hebrews was concerned those in his day would likewise buckle under the pressures of persecution and turn away from their faith in the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. Therefore, he urged them not to let the truths they had embraced “slip” away from them.

Believers today need to likewise “hold fast the form of sound words” (II Timothy 1:13). A book could be written about those in our day who were once faithful but have let precious fundamental truths slip away by listening to errant teachers. Don’t be one of them. Guard and cling to the dispensational truths taught by the Apostle Paul.