Connected in The Word 10-1-25
Pay attention to yourselves! Luke 17:3a
Pay attention to yourselves! There are times when I need to work VERY hard to pay attention and to stay focused on the task at hand. I am extremely distractable. However, there are also times when I go to the other extreme and become so focused on one thing that I miss everything else that is going on around me. I seem to have the worse possible attention/focus problem a person could have.
My attention problems above are mostly connected to my personality and honestly, it’s just the way God wired me whether I like it or not. But I have another kind of attention problem that is very much connected to my sinful nature. Often, I find myself being “sinfully selective” when it comes to what things I pay attention to and what things I ignore. Sometimes I ignore my own sin but pay very close attention to the sins of others. Other times I get so focused on rebuking sin that I don’t pay attention to God’s commission to forgive sin. There are times when I am so focused on what I want to do that I don’t pay attention to how my actions may impact the faith walk of those around me. I have a “sinfully selective” attention problem!
Thanks be to God that Jesus paid attention to all the right things! Our Lord rebukes sin through a strong word of Law and our Lord forgives sin through a strong word of Gospel! Jesus was focused on what He had to do through His life, death, and resurrection because he knew exactly how that would impact the lives of all people. Jesus is your Lord and Savior. He paid for your sin at the cross and won life eternal for you through the empty tomb. PLEASE don’t let this Good News be a stumbling block for you!
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