Pay Attention

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (NIV) 

I’ve been writing words of the day for me to meditate on.  It gives me some clarity and something to focus on.  Some obvious ones are like love, grace, and faith.  Some not so obvious ones center on gratitude, planning, and honor.  Each one has been helpful.  One that caught me the other day was the word ‘Attention.’  It was not referring to people watching something.  Instead, it was on focusing on what matters and not being distracted.  Like a teacher in a classroom, they notice when the class is not listening to a key lesson.  Then they do something to help reign the class back in.  Maybe it’s a subtle pause or tap of a stick against the board.  “Pay attention,” they say.  That reminds the room that something important is about to be shared.  

This was particularly important to my thinking about God.  I began to check in with myself.  Am I praying enough?  Are my prayers one that truly come from my heart or am I ‘mailing it in?’  Am I seeking the word consistently?  Am I doing what I want or what God wants?  These are important aspects of our relationship with God, and whether it be text messages, a TV show, or even the wrong crowd, we could easily lose sight of Him.  

We must always pay attention to how attune we are to God and His will.  I was reading a devotion where I was led to the book of Deuteronomy.  The sixth chapter talked about Israel’s journey into an unholy land where they could easily be led off the righteous path.  God wanted the leaders to be focused on His instruction such that they and others maintained their devotion to Him.  Imagine the challenge of going somewhere where you knew they did not worship God.  You would carry your bible and read it daily to maintain your focus.  Additionally, you would pray a multitude of times.  These would not only keep your focus on God but also ensure you avoid getting off track.  That type of resilience cannot be strictly mental.  That is why God said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.” It is the heart that drives and motivates us in situations where we may find ourselves lacking mentally.  It is ‘the will’ to power past those things that try to distract and divert us from a righteous path.  

Maintaining attention to God is a process.  There are numerous distractions that take us away from what matters to Him.  It could be a game, a show, a phone, and even a problem beyond your control.  But God did not guarantee we would go through life without troubles.  Even Jesus pointed out as much saying, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b) Knowing this, it should be relatively easy to deal with these things, right?  If so, please tell me the secret because I don’t know at times how to deal with it all!  But I do know God can.  So, let us not lose focus on what matters.  Fix your mind and heart on the one true living God, and reap the benefits of His love, mercy, and grace.  Where is your head at this moment?  How can you build a heart driven to follow Christ?  My prayer is that we not lose sight of God’s purpose for our lives, and when distracted, simply pay attention.  Amen.