Right now we are singing that He is in this place! We thank God for that because there is nothing impossible for God. Nothing is impossible for God. We will not leave this place in the same way we came in. That is the purpose of being exposed to His Word every week…every day! That's why we need to pay attention to His Word because in order for the Lord to do something, we have to hear what He is saying and what direction He is giving. Today this act of listening, as we have talked about in recent weeks, is often overlooked.

You know what? To this day, even today, there's a conversation you hear everywhere, in any social setting, and at any gathering. Do you know what it is? What conversation and controversy is still going on after so many years? The reason people don't listen is because they don't reason. There is no reasoning you can give to end this discussion, which is, who is better? Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Yes, it never stops, even to this day when both are practically retired! They're not playing in leagues that are even relevant anymore. But, you know? You still hear people talking about it. Wow! You would think that the power is still flowing and they're still at the top of their game. They're talking about who's better, right? Who is better…Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

A lot of people, mostly older people like me, who saw players from the past say that Ronaldo was better. Why? Well, you can watch videos of him. Many say that Ronaldinho Gaucho, the Brazilian who played before Messi, was even better than him. Maybe it's true and maybe it's not. The debate is still out there. But what happened to this guy who seemed to be the best of all time? Like the other Ronaldo, but the chubby one, right? He was even better and there's no arguing about that. If you want to argue, we can talk about it later outside! But there's no arguing…He was the real deal!

Church, it doesn't matter! There are things in life that we have and sometimes it's just for a moment. That guy, Maradona, lived his whole life on memories, while Messi continued to play and was the best on his team. So, it doesn't matter how far we get. The important thing is to keep going, to persevere, and to take care of ourselves like these men did. Why do they keep playing? You and I would be walking onto those fields with canes and these men are still out there. Why? Because they've taken care of themselves. They are professionals. They watch what they eat. They get enough rest. They don't party like the others. That's why they've continued their careers and they've been able to keep going.

They have continued the race and so have many of us! That's what Christianity is all about. However, there are people who live in the past and say, "You should have seen the revival in the 70s! You should have seen how I was back then! You should have seen how I preached! You should have seen how I went around visiting people! You should have seen, last year the pastor gave me a word. You should have seen that in the service three months ago, the Lord spoke to me." And now? What about today? How are we today? Are we still going strong or did all that happen in our past? We are like Maradona living off of memories. We think we're still in the world of football, because Maradona lived in the world of football, literally, in the 80s, and he never did anything again. Many of us are like that. Something happened once or twice, a long time ago. However, the Word of God tells us that we have to take care of what He has given us. This salvation that we were singing about before, when we said we are joyful because of our salvation, we have to take care of that! We have to take care of what God has given us. It doesn't matter what He did a long time ago. Every day we have to continue on that path. Every day we have to be vigilant.

So let's look at a passage in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 2. We need to take care of what God has given us. The Word of God urges us to be careful. Look at the title there. It says, "Warning to Pay Attention." This book of Hebrews has several warnings. Let's look at the first warning that the writer gives us, verses 1 through 4. “Therefore we must pay close attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how 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. God also testified to it by signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” I want you to look here in the Reina Valera version. It says here in what we just read, which was the International Version, that we need to pay more attention. In the updated version of the Reina Valera it says, it is “necessary”. Well some of us don't understand that word. Let us pay closer attention. It says, "Therefore it is necessary that we attend more diligently to the things we have heard, lest we slip away." Let's see, what is this telling us? That it is necessary that we pay attention to the word with more diligence on this path of salvation.

"Therefore it is necessary that we attend more diligently to the things we have heard, lest we slip away."

We all know this, right? We know that Jesus is salvation! Jesus is the way! Everyone knows the verse in John 14:6. Jesus said, "I am the way," right? Everyone knows it. Now, it's not enough to just know it. We have to live it and walk according to the direction of that path as well. The author gives us some recommendations for walking on this path of salvation. Number one, the first recommendation is that we must be diligent in our walk on this path of salvation. It is necessary that we are diligent because on this path we have to strive with care and dedication! We must heed to the Word of the Lord. This is for everyone, both for newcomers and for those of us who have been around longer. Those who have been in the Word longer run the risk of becoming hardened and losing their faith. They may say, "Well, I've already heard that. I already know that. What they're talking about, I already know it, I don't know what I'm going to learn from that, you know?" The heart begins to harden because we think we know everything. However, the truth is, we haven't accomplished anything. None of us here have accomplished anything because salvation is an everyday thing.

The author of Hebrews is telling us not to neglect our salvation, in verse 3. Look at your Bible in verse 3: “Do not neglect your salvation,” but this applies every day! Salvation, as we have learned, is not, “Today I am saved because I said a prayer and that’s why I am saved.” That is not the salvation the Bible speaks of. Salvation is a daily journey until we reach the goal. Paul said that the goal of our faith is salvation, meaning we don't already possess it. In fact, in Romans chapter 8, verse 24, Paul says, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no longer hope. Who hopes for what they already have?” And so Paul is saying that we are being saved every day. We are being saved daily! Therefore, every day I must be diligent in guarding this, in learning the commands of my salvation according to the Word of the Lord. We have learned that the word “wait” is something active. It is not a passive waiting, like, “I'm sitting here, waiting for the Lord and waiting for salvation.” No, it's an active waiting. I am doing something. I am taking steps. I am assessing day by day whether my walk is correct according to the Word of the Lord. I place my actions before the Word of the Lord and ask Him, “Is this correct? In what ways am I deviating, Lord?”

Brothers and sisters, we need to insist on this until we understand that when we talk about these things, we are talking about our daily lives, our everyday existence. We're not talking about Sunday. We're not just talking about the church service, but about everything we do including our family, our work, and our friendships. We are putting all those things into perspective. That is the path to salvation. The path to salvation is not just church. The path to salvation is life! It's my daily walk. Every day I walk on that path of salvation. Every day I’m on a journey. It's like a ship. Look, I'm going to explain this to you, and this is where many of us fail. A ship sails from point A to point B; the purpose is to reach point B, right? If someone gets on a bus, a train, a plane, or a ship, the idea isn't to just wander aimlessly. No, it's to reach the destination. If you get on a ship, you would want that captain to be diligent and to check from time to time to make sure he's going in the right direction. If not, imagine getting lost at sea? Where would you end up? Like Christopher Columbus, who was going to India and ended up in Suyapa. Imagine, he was going to India and ended up here. That's how Christian life can be.

Brother Noah, can you come here please? I told the boys we were going to act this out. Brother Noah, you're a ship so stand up straight here, or here, or in the middle. Now, the destiny of this ship is to go along this straight line, along this line, to the door, straight ahead. That's the destination. Look straight ahead there. You can walk. It looks like you're doing well, but imagine something happened here, church. He was careless, like the captain who neglects the helm and it only shifted a little. Brothers and sisters, it's not that he went astray. He didn't leave the church. He just went a little bit over here and over there. But he is there again on Sunday as if nothing happened, right, Lord? Walk straight because you have to keep walking. Walk straight. Will you reach your destination? No, but he only deviated a little bit.

That's why the Bible says that the road is wide, but the path that leads to salvation is very narrow. The wide road is not the road of the world. The wide road is here in religion and religiosity. It's in believing that I can keep going, even if I've only deviated a little. If I stray even a little, I won't reach my destination. What do I have to do? I have to go back to the point where I went astray and then continue straight ahead. Of course I have to keep going, but if I continue on the path I'm on, I won't reach my destination. And this is where the donkey threw Genaro off, because nobody likes to go back. Let's look at the things we're doing in the mirror of the Holy Spirit. Go back to the place where you failed. Go back to the place where you went astray. We don't like to do that, but let's go back to that place. It's necessary to ask for forgiveness from the Lord, to ask Him, "Father, where did I go astray? I'm here."

Ask the Lord, “Where did I go wrong, where did I stray, where did I fail, where did I go off the path?” Because it doesn’t take much. It doesn't take much to go astray. That's the problem with Christianity today. You don't have to leave the church. You don't have to do things that are obviously wrong. It happens little by little, gradually. It says there that we must be diligent, like a captain who is checking the course constantly. That's why it says, lest we lose our way. More diligence means paying attention. That not only leads to the idea of ​​listening but also putting into action what we are hearing. Right? The Greek translation says that paying attention means keeping it in mind. Keeping it in mind, that is, to be thinking about it.

The author of Hebrews later says, “Sometimes I feel that what goes in one ear goes out the other,” and he says here, “Keep your mind focused.” To be diligent, to be attentive, is to have your mind set on something. That is, when we leave here, some of us, due to the effects of our past, our minds have become a little impaired. Our memory has failed some of us, but the Word says, you have to be diligent. You have to keep your mind focused. The mind is a battlefield where the enemy is constantly bombarding us.

That's what it says in Romans chapter 12. Look up Romans chapter 12, verse 2. Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Renew your mind constantly, so that you may know what the will of God is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. You have to renew your mind continuously, not just once, but all the time. This is one of those verses that isn't a one-time thing. It’s a command. It's something that must be practiced continuously, because it is God's will for our lives. As the Old Testament teaches us it is like this: Sometimes God wanted them to stay in one place and the Israelites stayed. Suddenly, the cloud would move and everyone had to move. Then the cloud would stop in a place and everyone had to stop. That's how God's will is. Sometimes He wants us here and sometimes He wants us there. It says that to know God's will, we have to be renewed in our minds. That's where the enemy is defeated! We have to be diligent about what we consume in order to renew our minds.

"Renew your mind constantly, so that you may know what the will of God is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. You have to renew your mind continuously, not just once, but all the time."

The mind, in a strict sense, as it says in the Word, is the capacity for spiritual truth. It is the ability to perceive divine things and to recognize good and hate evil. In your mind you say, "This is not right, this is not wrong." So what does the enemy do? He fills us with so many thoughts and ideas. Then when something is actually wrong according to the Bible, we say, "It's not that bad. If everyone is doing it, it's okay.” This is why we must renew our minds with the Word of God. I renew my mind because everything seems okay according to the world. However, I must bring it to Him and say, "Lord, is this right in your eyes?" "No." Ah, okay Lord, then that's how I renew my mind. We are constantly under attack.

The renewing of the mind may also be understood as the need to observe the "rules of the road" very seriously. We have to follow the rules on the path carefully because they are vital for us to stay on it. These rules are much more than just food, clothing, or things of that nature. No, we are talking about being diligent in following the Word and remaining steadfast—always, not just once. When we talk about leadership and remaining steadfast and firm, it is a day-by-day commitment. As we saw in previous weeks, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for the moment when you and I are not diligent. The moment we say, “Let’s see what’s over here,” is the day the devil takes advantage.

1 Samuel chapter 10, verse 9. Look at this example. Saul is the proclaimed king. “As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying." The story continues that Saul began to prophesy among them. The prophets were amazed because the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul. That day he was anointed. He was the first king of Israel, but we know his story, right? It was incredible how the Holy Spirit of God came upon this man with such power. However, as time passes, how did Saul end up? Full of power? Did he end up prophesying? Did he finish his journey the way he started? And how did he start it? Incredible, right? He was prophesying with the full power of God. Then it says in the Word that he received a command from the Lord and he disobeyed. Further on, it says the Word of the Lord came to the prophet Samuel and said to Saul, “Today I reject you as king of Israel. And you will no longer be in my presence.” How did he end up?

Brothers and sisters, it's not how we start. It's not what we did or what happened in our past. Today is today. What if Saul had asked himself– well, it wasn't necessary because the order was specific, but, "Lord, does what I’m doing please you? Is what I’m doing right?" Saul was touched by the Lord. He was regenerated. He was transformed. As we would say, he was a soul won for Christ. But because of his disobedience and rebellion day after day, the Lord took everything away from him. He lost his job, he lost the kingdom, he lost his children, and he lost his life. It doesn't matter how we start, or when. It doesn't even matter if we started badly. It doesn't matter where you come from, or your past, or your vices, or what you did, or what you didn't do. What matters is today! What are we doing today? When we are not diligent and we don't pay attention, things come into our lives; there are many dangers which we can fall into if we don't pay attention.

"It doesn't matter where you come from, or your past, or your vices, or what you did, or what you didn't do. What matters is today! What are we doing today?"

I want to quickly tell some of you about a danger we can fall into if we don't pay attention and aren't diligent. We can fall victim to apathy–a state of indifference to the path that leads to our salvation, a state of hardness to the call on our lives. There are many people who hear the Word of God and have been studying it for years. Then they leave the church and do the very things they were taught not to do. It's like us when we were children. Our mothers would say, "Don't touch that. You’ll get burned." Then when she turns away we do exactly what she told us not to. But then our father says, "Let him get burned so he learns his lesson." Unfortunately that’s often how we are.

The author of Hebrews summarizes, as you can see in what we read, the sins that bring the punishment of the law through transgression and disobedience. The first of these words in Greek—I don't want to overwhelm you with too many words. However, I liked what it means, which is literally to cross the line or go beyond the boundaries, as we say. Knowledge and conscience have drawn a line, and crossing it is sin. In other words, when we hear the Word, we hear what is good and what is bad. In our minds, a line is drawn that says, "This is good and this is bad. I shouldn't cross this line," right? Our mind, our conscience does that, or at least it should, shouldn't it? We should know the things we shouldn’t do. It's important to have those boundaries. Many pastors today are calling this "setting up fences" in the church. That is, not inventing commandments, but setting up boundaries, saying, "Look, this is wrong! It's not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but this isn't right, because it will lead you to sin." Sometimes our parents forbade us from doing certain things or seeing certain things.

I remember when I was very young, my mom started going to church. Some cousins ​​and other people from the church would come over to our house. A ​​lot of people from the church would come to our house, so I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I do remember that they forbade me from watching a certain television show, right? It was very popular at the time. It was called the Knights of the Zodiac. We all loved it, but I was little and I didn't even understand what it was about. I don't know how they forbade me from watching it. I don't remember if they gave me an explanation of why I couldn't watch it. I didn’t really understand at the time. So when she wasn't around, we all tried to find a way to watch it. When they would go to the evening service, we would stay home to watch it.

I didn't understand it then, but now as an adult, I watched that program and said, "Wow, now I understand why they forbade me from watching it." I understand it completely. At that time I didn't understand it, and it was good that they forbade me from watching it. It was right to draw that line. However, brothers and sisters, there must be a moment in our lives where we ourselves say, "I can't do this. I shouldn't be watching that." Deep down inside, there should be something that tells me I shouldn't be watching these kinds of things or I shouldn't be consuming this content. I shouldn't be having these kinds of conversations. Today we must ask ourselves if our hearts have become hardened. Are we apathetic? Do we have these boundaries set in our lives? Do we allow ourselves to watch anything or listen to anything? I remember as a teenager, I was like that. This may not sound familiar to many of the young brothers and sisters. In my time when I was young, there was an incredible boom, which happens from time to time, and a new channel emerged called MTV. Wow, that thing was a revolution! The whole world was talking about it. However the older people in the church said, "That's demonic," right? All that kind of stuff was evil, you know? When someone in the church said they had seen something from there or when you passed by that channel, there was a voice in your head telling you it was wrong. There was already this feeling of, "I shouldn't be watching that. I shouldn't be consuming that. I shouldn't be talking about these kinds of things." If there’s no conviction in my life, we have to examine ourselves, church. We have to examine what we are taking in. If there is no discomfort when you watch television, when you are on your phone, and nothing bothers you, let me tell you that you have a problem. You are on the road to apathy that makes you hard, and that hardens the mind and the heart.

It's so common today in everything we see and everything we do. In most of the Bible, especially in the New Testament, there's something that calls out to us and warns us. Today's word is warning us about our journey. This word was written for those who are on the path. All the writers, without exception, when they list the works of the flesh and the dangers of the flesh and the world for the Christian, the first thing they mention is sexual immorality. Because that has affected the church from the beginning and still does today. It not only affects the world, but also the church. It's everywhere, including commercials. It’s in everything, like music and television. It's in everything we do. Now, have we drawn a line in our minds? Because often everything starts little by little, innocently, right? The things that happen, church, don't cross the line. Set a line if you don't have them in your life, if those lines don't exist in your life. Don't worry because we'll talk about some of them quickly.

Don't write (contact) to someone else's wife. If you have a spouse, don't write to other women or men. Don't accept friend requests from unknown men or women just to look at their pictures. That's gossip, that's lewdness, that's lust. Don't cross that line. When I say don't write to someone else's wife or husband, you know what I'm talking about. It's not that you can't greet a fellow believer; just be prudent, be careful. Even if it’s not malicious, and you may not be malicious either, the devil is wicked. Don't get involved in those things. Don't venture into that territory. Don't do it. Why is there so much immorality in the church? I don't care what's happening out there in the world. What are we doing today to stay on the right path to salvation? We must be diligent and pay attention. Don't let the devil deceive you. Don't get involved in those games. Don't think you won't fall because no one messes with the devil and comes out unscathed. No one. Young people, pay attention to the Word of the Lord. Don't flirt with everyone. Don't be saying "hi" and sending little messages. Don't do that! Draw a line of respect.

We must be diligent! The path is very narrow. The road is very narrow, and if you stray even a little, the devil doesn’t play games with you. We saw it a week ago, that the devil seeks to destroy you. Haven't we seen that? Don't we see it all the time? The devil destroys families and destroys lives because they let him in for just a moment. We must be renewed in our minds. Look, brother, I'm one of those people who don't like arguments. At my house, when I fight with my wife... My wife is over here, that's why I'm going to turn to look at her. When I argue with my wife, you know what I do? I just don't talk to her, I let it go. Does the Bible say we should do that? People can tell me a lot of things, they can give me a lot of advice, but what does the Bible say? That's what we're talking about, the path, church, doesn't that have to do with salvation? Yes, of course it has to do with salvation. Because if you're not speaking to your wife, the Bible says, how are you going to bring your offering to the altar if you have something against someone? Leave your offering there, reconcile with that person, and then go and bring the offering to the altar. Brother, I'm just making this up, but you wouldn't believe how difficult it is. Seek counseling then, seek counseling because otherwise those relationships will deteriorate, and that happens not only in couples, it happens with friendships, it happens at work, when your boss starts bothering you, you're already on the phone.

The Bible says, don't let the sun go down on your anger. Why? Because I had a fight with my wife last night. And you know what? In the morning, she was upset with me. Then I go to work, and you know that at work, the devil is there, the devil is there in high heels. And with Chanel perfume, "Hi Tito, how are you?" "Not good, because you wouldn't believe how my wife treated me," "Oh, I don't know how she can treat you like that, you poor thing." The mind, being renewed in the mind, the Word of the Lord has all these things for us. From the most serious things to the simplest things in our lives, so that we remain upright and we don't fall into the enemy's trap.

Another danger, brothers and sisters, is that it talks about being diligent. So obviously the danger is falling into negligence and into passivity, because negligence leads to falling away from Christ and His demands. As verse 1 says, let's go back to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1. Notice that it says there that if we are not diligent, we will slip, little by little, and when you slip... it's because sometimes you weren't paying attention, right? You're walking and maybe it's wet, but if you pay attention to where you're walking, you won't slip. Right? It doesn’t happen but sometimes it could happen by accident. Who has had that happen to them, like down there on the corner? Right? Dislocating your hip because you slip. That's not good.

But the Bible says in the example that someone is there, and because they're not paying attention, they start to slip little by little. It's not like "boom!" all at once. They don't slip all at once. They slip little by little and then they fall. "Oh! It's slippery," and little by little, they should move away from there so they don't slip. Most Christians don't leave the church because of something that happens suddenly; something happens and they leave—no, it's something that has been happening over a period of time. It’s because of something they're not resolving, something they're not paying attention to, something they've allowed into their life and their heart. These are things that we allow little by little. And look, it might not even take them out of the church, but it has taken them off the path of salvation. It doesn't matter if we're just here in church. The important thing is to know if we are on the path of salvation. That is our hope! The purpose of this message, church, is not to scare you about whether you are saved or not, which you should be asking yourself right now. The problem is that we are more afraid of other things instead of asking ourselves, "Wow, am I on the path of salvation today?"

If the Lord comes, if the motorcycle taxi grabs me down there, will I be on the path of salvation? But no, we ask ourselves other things, other things; our hearts beat with fear, but for other reasons. This Word is certain because it was given by Christ himself. Look at verse 4. It says that it was Christ himself, bearing witness to this Word through miracles. Who spoke this word? Christ; it comes directly from Him! It came directly from His mouth. He said He would come for us, and He will. Amen? He said He would answer our prayers, and He will. He said He would be with us until the end of the world, and He will. Therefore, we would do well to heed to these words. The same one who said He would come for you is the same one who is saying, pay attention and be careful.

An unbelieving farmer died and they discovered in his will that he had given his farm to the devil. In court, they didn't know exactly what to do. "How do you give a farm to the devil?" they asked themselves. Finally, the judge made a decision. The best way to carry out the deceased's wishes was to allow the farm to become overgrown with weeds, its soil to erode, and the house and barn to rot. In our opinion, the best way to give something to the devil is by doing nothing. We can also let our lives go the same way by doing nothing and drifting wherever the current takes us. By doing nothing, everything falls apart. Look, brother, I don't want to be those things you talked about; I'm never going to fall into that. Look at a house when nothing is done to it. I didn't damage the walls; I just stopped cleaning them for a while, even though I didn't do anything to them. What happens to material things? The same is true in our lives.

Most Christians don't slip away suddenly; it's something that happens slowly. You can drift into any current of the world if you're not anchored to something. Just like the brother's boat, right? It could lose its way. When a boat is at the dock, they have to put down an anchor, because, you know? That path, that is, the ocean, moves on its own, and you say, "No, I'm going to leave the little boat here, nobody's going to move it." The sea will move it, and when you look again, it's gone. That's how our lives are; they have to be anchored, they have to have something that keeps them firm. I want to finish with Hebrews chapter 6, further on, in verse 19, a verse that is well known to all of us. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 19 says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain." We have an anchor, and it is hope, the hope of seeing Him, the hope that He will return. Of meeting Him, and brother, that could be today.

People say, "My grandfather died, and He didn't come. He died fighting because they told him Christ was coming, and He didn't. My father also died waiting, and He didn't come." No, brother, they are already in God's presence, giving an account. I don't know if you believe that one day you will die or not. There are people who believe that some of us won't die, but that we will be that generation that sees the Lord's return. I don't know. What I do know is that at any moment I can meet Him. It doesn't matter if I don't see it; this afternoon He could send for my soul, to ask me for an account. So I have to make sure I'm on the right path today, because this path is incredibly long, all the way to the end, and we have to walk it every day, every single day. But the day the Lord says, "That's enough," I will immediately be transported from here to the end of the path, and there I will have to give an account to my Lord. And you know what? I'd rather give an account now, I'd rather settle my accounts with Him, I'd rather have those guidelines in my life that allow me to continue on God's path.