Pay Attention

There are occasions in our lives where we must pay attention. Backing out of a parking spot calls for complete attention. Baking at high altitude demands full attention in order to get the ingredients and their measurements correct. Babysitting an active two-year old requires uninterrupted attention.

My brother used to walk to work from his home. He crossed a highly congested road where there wasn’t a cross walk. He said that he could day dream or think  of other things all day long, but for those two minutes per day, his full attention needed to be focused on crossing that road. It demanded that he was alert to all the happenings in that moment.

If you look up the words “pay attention” in my concordance, these are the verses you’ll find. Some of the verses tell us to pay attention to the wisdom of our parents. Others tell us to not pay attention to those around us or to myths. The message here must be that we are to pay attention to the things we know are true and disregard those things we know to be untrue.

Let’s see what God wants us to pay attention to

“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.” (Proverbs 4:1 – NIV)

“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.” (Proverbs 4:20 – NIV)

“My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.” (Proverbs 5:1-2 – NIV)

“Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say.” (Proverbs 7:24 – NIV)

“Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.” (Proverbs 22:17-18 – NIV)

“Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant curing you—for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.” (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 – NIV)

“You have heard many things but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.” (Isaiah 42:20 – NIV)

“Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.” (Titus 1:13-14 – NIV)

“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1 – NIV)

What is it that you need to pay careful attention to today? Do you need to be alert to the teachings and wisdom of parents or mentors? Do you need to need to ignore what others or myths are saying? Do you need to read God’s Word and gain a better understanding of how you should be living your life?

There is plenty of unimportant stuff in this world. And I can guarantee, with all the media you will hear of it all. But is that really what you want to be paying attention to? Isn’t it time to pay attention to what is important?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna