Pay Attention!

If you're a parent, you have likely uttered some form of that phrase - pay attention! - numerous times.  The same is true if you are a teacher.  Or if you work with children in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.  You may even have uttered it to yourself!

Many things are deserving of our attention.  Road signs.  Baking directions in a recipe.  The balance in our checkbook. 

And what about these occurrences of that phrase.......

"Pay attention to all I have said to you."  (Exodus 23:13 ESV)

[Jesus said] "Pay attention to what you hear."  (Mark 4:24 ESV)

"And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention...."  (2 Peter 1:19 ESV)

"We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard."  (Hebrews 2:1 ESV)

We have the gift of the written Word of God. We need to pay attention to what it says.  Of course, doing that would require that we actually spend time reading it!

There's a lot going on in our world right now.  We need to pay attention.  We need particularly to pay attention to what's going on in the Middle East.  As the old gospel song says, "signs of the times are everywhere."

No matter which translation of the Bible you use, and no matter how you reword that phrase, it's time to pay attention.  To be alert.  To be on guard.  To be watchful.

It's time to be ready.

"Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.  For this reason, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not think He will."  (Matthew 24:42, 44 NASB)