WINGS: A Journey in Faith from the Earthly to the Heavenly is a compilation of stories—thoughts, musing, insights, revelations and guidance gathered from my experiences living as a Christian in Las Vegas. Visit Wings website at: http://www.wix.com/carolynmolic/wings-carolyn-molica
Taken from Wings Pt. 2 Kindle Edition
MR. TILTY HEAD OR PAY ATTENTION!
“Focus!” “Pay attention!” We’ve all heard those words, or said them to someone else, but how good are we at focusing and paying attention ourselves? There’s a girl I work with who is acutely attentive to everything we do. She never needs to be given instructions more than once. My friend knows how to focus and teaches it to her daughter. This message may not apply to her. But for the rest of us, read on if you dare.
Just like my friend teaches her daughter to pay attention, Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, gave instructions to his children on the subject. He wrote:
Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. (Prov 7:24).
Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. (Prov 4:20).
My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding. (Prov 5:1).
These words made me think of my puppy, Spike. When I ask, “Puppy go for a ride?” he perks up, and tilts his head to the side to see if it’s really true what he thought he heard—a ride? Yeah! He does this so much we sometimes call him “Mr. Tilty Head.” When I found “incline thine ear” and “bow thine ear” in Proverbs, I had the perfect picture of my dog, listening and happily anticipating his ride.
When I first started meditating on the phrase “pay attention,” it came to mind that when we pay for something there’s at least a little thought given to it; it takes a few minutes to get our wallet out and we expect to get something in return. If we think about paying attention the same way as paying for an item, we’ll do it with more concentration, more immediate consciousness of what we’re actually doing, and expect something in return. The phrase “you get what you pay for” comes to mind.
The Bible uses the word “hearken” and its translation is “give ear.” In Job 37:14 God says, “Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.” In other words, pause a minute or two and take the time to think about it—concentrate, focus, wake up! Sometimes we need to come out of the daze of foggy living, and make the effort to be more aware of what’s happening around us, to us and in us.
The phrase we commonly use is “pay attention,” but the Holy Spirit showed me that the Bible translation is “give attention” and “give ear.” That’s an act of love, to give. Giving your attention, giving your “tilty ear” isn’t just an exchange or a payment for something. It involves an act of the heart. So think about it the next time a person or the Holy Spirit wants to talk to you. Are you giving? Paying? Or consciously choosing to close your ears?
Love, Carolyn
