Fantastic Friday #367- Attention

Attention

¹⁷ Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
    apply your heart to what I teach,
¹⁸ for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
    and have all of them ready on your lips.
¹⁹ So that your trust may be in the Lord,
    I teach you today, even you.
²⁰ Have I not written thirty sayings for you,
    sayings of counsel and knowledge,
²¹ teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth,
    so that you bring back truthful reports
    to those you serve?  Proverbs 22:17-21

Do you really pay attention to people around you or pay attention to your kids or spouse when they are speaking to you?  I heard about someone that was told this week that they do not listen to people.  It was kind of a shock to hear that about this person, and I think to myself, do I listen to people, or is it just idle chatter that I allow to go in one ear and out the other. Listening to people is a special gift at times, because people don't always say what they mean to say or they speak in some kind of hidden code.  There are also those people who have been around for a while who speak in proverbs or other stories to get a message across, but I know that I can zone out after a couple of minutes with those stories.  So what do we do?  We take time to listen, especially to those who are wise with age and wisdom.  We shut down everything else around us and focus on that person and no one else.  The same thing applies with children or spouses.  Stop what you are doing and give your full attention to them. Put down that laptop, iPad, iPhone, Galaxy tablet or other electronic device and give them what they deserve and that is your full and undivided attention. Oh, and what about God, are we truly paying attention to Him, or are we allowing the little things to distract us from His message.  I tried something different this week, when I was performing a task at home for about 45 minutes, I shut off every electronic device and only focused on that task while talking to God.  While it was a monotonous task, I felt I could focus more on God, however the only way to truly focus on God and pay attention is to spend quality time with Him.  Pay attention to those around you and God this week, you might be amazed at what you are shown. 


Have a great weekend.