Pay Attention

Proverbs 4:20 - 22 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Paying attention. It's something we don't do well anymore. We are a very distracted generation. We live in a very noisy world. There's always music playing, TV running, and the like. More than the external voices, most people experience conflicting voices on their inside much of the time because they don't have filtered and integrated minds/hearts. As a result, they don't hear clearly. Paying attention is very important in our lives. If we don't listen well, we can get into all kinds of troubles. In driving, I can get into accidents, miss the right turn, get lost, and pay fines/penalties if I am not paying attention. In relationships, I can get into needless and foolish fights as a result of not listening carefully. Listening attentively to God is something you and I need to do. The Bible teaches us to give importance to hearing God's voice as he speaks to us in the big as well as small concerns of our lives. We need to listen attentively, guard our hearts, keep corruption away from us, and look straight ahead. As we do, we will be pleasing to the One who made and owns us, and we will avoid needless troubles and pains. Are you a good listener to God? Are you paying attention to God's communications to you? Or are you distracted by so many less important concerns, and blinded by things that do not really matter that much? Are you enjoying a godly and peaceful life because you are making good decisions that are made possible because you hear God's voice in your life? Or is your life very complicated and stressed out because you are making one mistake after another caused by not having the ideas of God directing your mind and influencing your choices? Today, make a decision to be a good listener to God and doer of what God says. God's peace and joy abound in your life today!   Lathur Badoy