Attention and Interest on Father’s Day!

I don’t really remember when I got into the habit of getting up early and spending time studying the Word of God alone, in the quiet of the morning, before my wife or the kids arose for the day.  I do have memories of reading the Word and praying in the formal living room of the house we bought in the late 1980’s, just north of our hometown of Santa Rosa, California.  So, I most likely began the practice sometime in the years previous to that… probably even before we started our family in 1980.

One of the things that I have enjoyed throughout the years is walking into my Bible time… whether it be in my study at home, at a camp table in a campground where we were camping, or alone in the backyard in the cool, crisp morning air, with the birds singing their morning wake up calls… with an excited and heightened sense of awareness and interest to what the Lord was going to show me that day!

Hopefully you are like me, in that I tend to keep an eye and ear out for the little “HINTS” that the Lord might be sending me throughout each day, concerning practical information that I may need for a project I am working on, for a life lesson or a Biblical revelation that He wants to confirm in me from something I was previously studying in His Word.

I often wonder how many times we miss vital information that the Lord is trying to give us, simply because we have allowed the cares, concerns and just plain noise of the world around us, to distract our attention from hearing and obeying the loving, faithful and timely inputs that He has for us in the course of our daily lives?

I was reading this week about the BLESSINGS of the Lord that Moses was reminding the Children of Israel about, before they entered into the land that the Lord had promised them.  And throughout the entire dissertation, He continued to bring them back to the central point, that all these blessings were theirs to enjoy… as they continued to read and obey His Word.  He told them that,

“The LORD will give you plenty of blessings…  He will open the heavens, His rich storehouse, for you. He will send rain on your land at the right time and bless everything you do. You will be able to make loans to many nations but won't need to borrow from any.  The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. You will always be at the top, never at the bottom, if you faithfully obey the commands (or Word) of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.  Do everything I'm commanding you today. (&) Never worship other gods or serve them.” (Deuteronomy 28:11A, 12-24 God’s Word ©) 

The phrase translated “if you faithfully obey” in this modern translation, is rendered in the King James Version as “if that thou hearken.” With the word “hearken” in the original Greek meaning “to hear intelligently” and/or “to hear with attention or interest.”*

So, you can see that Moses was telling the people under his charge, to intelligently hear the Word of the Lord that He was teaching them.  But in order to do that… you have to have some level of understanding to the subject being taught… and then to listen with rapt attention and personal interest.

And… if you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, then you know that we gain understanding of the Word of God through time spent in the study of the Bible at church, with other believers and most importantly… through personal Bible Study that is pursued on a regular and consistent basis.  Then if you are anything like me… the more you get… the more of His Word you’ll want… and you’ll excitedly and expectantly look forward to your regular fellowship with the Lord with rapt attention and personal interest!

You know?  I always enjoyed spending time with my earthly Dad… and likewise… I love spending time with my heavenly Father in His Word, beginning first thing every morning and then staying alert and at attention for “HINTS” and/or leadings that He gives me throughout the rest of the day.

Do I have a personal interest in the things of God… YOU BET!

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Have a wonderful FATHER’S DAY weekend as we celebrate our earthly DAD’S and then continue to celebrate our heavenly Father, through our intelligent hearing of His Word with our rapt attention and personal interest… in the things that interest HIM for our lives!

 

*Strongs and Brown-Drivers-Briggs Greek Dictionaries