Checking my attention levels
Day 5 on the Road to Easter Lent Reflections | Alison Lloyd
Jesus said to them. ‘Pay attention to what you hear: With the measure you use, it will be measured to you and still more will be added to you.’
Mark 4: 24
This saying is on the tail end of the famous parable about the seeds, which represent ‘the word’. ‘The word’ is Jesus’ shorthand for the only message that counts for him – the revelation of the kingdom of God. Jesus has been talking about the different reactions people have to what he says.
He seems to be saying that we have a choice in how we respond to what God says. We can reject it outright (like hard soil), let it get smothered by other priorities (weedy soil), or not bother to grow roots. Or we can take a hoe to our hearts and cultivate good soil. How I respond isn’t culturally or genetically determined. It’s up to me to listen.
Sometimes in the morning I want to rush my prayer and Bible reading time. I think, how will I get anything done, if I don’t get cracking on the work planned for the day? My ‘To Do’ list can be a field of weeds. (It grows like a field of weeds!) Preoccupation with getting things done chokes out my chance to receive something really valuable.
Am I being stingy with my attention? Is it running into deficit? If I choose to listen with a big measure, I will hear more in return. If I read the Bible with my full attention, giving it a generous allotment of my time, then my relationship with Jesus will become bigger, brighter and better. It’ll be more than worth it. I better not be stingy.
