Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Undivided Attention


Psalm 135

 1 Praise the LORD.[a]   Praise the name of the LORD;
   praise him, you servants of the LORD,
2 you who minister in the house of the LORD,
   in the courts of the house of our God.

 3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
   sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.


When you look around your home, what do you see?  Are you so busy that the tasks scream for your attention? What gets your undivided attention?  Sometimes, especially for Mama's, it seems there are more things than minutes in a day.  I have learned a very hard lesson lately. 

God doesn't want my busy. He wants my heart. He wants my attention. My undivided attention.

My son reminded me of this the other day.  He loves to make 'movies' with his toy cars. Hotwheels, Matchbox and CARS become part of elaborate and complex (really!) movies. He delights in having us watch him. He doesn't want our minutes taken from what we are doing. He wants our undivided attention. For a few minutes, for a bit longer. 

He isn't critical of his audience. He just wants us there. No phones, computers, busy hands. Just paying attention. Listening to him. Watching him. Letting him show us what plays in his mind.

Watching him the other day, taking photos, I noticed something important.  He kept looking up, at me, to see if I was watching him.  He wanted to be sure I was giving him what he needed. He needed my undivided attention.

God wants this from His children, just as we wish it from Him. He gives it to us. Without question. But how are we at giving it back?  When we read, pray or share our faith are we giving 100%?  How much of our mind, body and soul is His? At any given moment, are we living and walking with God?

It is hard, I know it to be true. We all have the same minutes in each day. Are we giving them to God or are we tossing them away wasted and empty?

What would happen in the world if we all gave those in front of us our undivided attention?  What would happen in our world if we all gave God our time and attention with a whole heart?  We belong to Him entirely. We don't own one nanosecond. Why should we try to hoard or toss them as if we owned centuries?

Tell me your thoughts...