Pay Attention!

by Chris Simmons

Often parents and teachers are heard exhorting their children and students to “pay attention.” Understanding that we’re all paying attention to something, perhaps the exhortation needs to be replaced with the question; what are you paying attention to? It’s impossible for students to learn what they need to learn when their attention is on anything else. In like manner, it’s impossible to please our heavenly Father when our attention is directed to other things than God and His will.

We read in Hebrews 2:1, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” What “reason” is the Hebrew writer referring to? Looking at chapter one, we read of the superiority of Jesus Christ to all others as: the Son of God, the creator of all things, the radiance of God’s glory, the purifier of our sins, and the one who reigns at the right hand of the Majesty on high. We’re called to “pay much closer attention” because of who Jesus Christ is!

We need to be paying attention to God and the word of His grace (Acts 20:32)! The word “attention” is defined in the Greek as “hold the mind towards … i.e., pay attention to, be cautious about, apply oneself to, adhere to” (Strong). “Turn the mind to, attend to, be attentive: to a person or thing” (Thayer). Often this word is translated “take heed” or “beware” in the NASB and indicates the danger at hand. The question is what is holding our mind? What are we being attentive to? Perhaps we have convinced ourselves that we can effectively do what is called “multi-tasking” – that we can effectively hold our mind towards several things at once. We can’t pay attention to everything and we must make a choice in regards to what is going to hold our mind.

The danger of not paying attention to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is to “drift away” from “what we have heard.” Anyone who has ever been in a boat knows that if you’re not paying constant attention to your situation, you will drift further and further away from where you ought to be. In the Greek, the word “drift” means to “to flow past” (Thayer) or “carelessly pass” by (Strong). This word doesn’t even indicate intentional disregard, but just a damning degree of “negligence” (carelessness, making light of; cf. Matthew 22:5) – the word used in Hebrews 12:3 regarding what we must avoid regarding our salvation.

So, what is distracting us and causing us to not pay attention to the word of God and spiritual matters? Jesus spoke a parable in Luke 14:16-24 of those distracted by their land, oxen, and wife who failed to pay attention to the invitation offered to them. We read of Martha being distracted by the cares of this world in Luke 10:40-42 and Jesus’ effort to redirect her attention back to the “one thing (that) is necessary.” We need to be as concerned as Paul was in securing “undistracted devotion to the Lord” (I Corinthians 7:35) in ourselves (first) and others.

Those approved by God have always concerned themselves with their need to pay attention to what God has said and eliminate whatever may distract them from that. Daniel recognized that the captivity of God’s people was a direct result of their failure to pay attention to the truth of God. Daniel 9:13, “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.” Nehemiah also recognized that their lack of attention to God and His word led to their defeat and captivity. Nehemiah 9:34, “For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.”

Hopefully it won’t take dire circumstances to cause us to eliminate the distractions and turn our attention to God and His word as we read of King Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20:2-4, “Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).’ Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.”

What do we need to do when we realize that we’re being distracted from where our attention ought to be? Learn from David and follow his example and pray as he prayed in Psalms 55:1-3, “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and do not hide Thyself from my supplication. Give heed to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the pressure of the wicked; for they bring down trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.” We need to seek God’s help as we seek to eliminate that which is distracting us and pray that we’ll have the courage to follow through.

As we eliminate the distractions, we need to recommit our focus and attention to the word of God. We read in Proverbs 4:20-21, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart.” In like manner, Peter exhorts us in II Peter 1:19, “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” Paul also in I Timothy 4:13-16, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching … Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” Truly, how much attention are we giving to the word of God and ensuring that our heart is filled with His truth?

What are we focused on? If it’s not on what it should be, what’s taking away our focus? Are our hobbies, recreational pursuits, entertainment, social media distracting us? Are we distracted by things that Jesus said we need to trust God with (Matthew 6:33-34)?

Finally, we need to recognize that attention means time and to give God and His word our attention means we will devote our time to Him (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5) and not to all the things that are distracting us. It’s foolish to think that we can give God and His word the leftovers of our time and honestly claim that our Father and the Bible have our attention.