I was a daydreamer. Watching a construction crew outside the school window, I could build a castle in the sky in the time it took them to lay a few bricks.
Thus, the most common words of affirmation from my teacher were, “Pay attention!” I WAS paying attention—just about different things.
As I matured, I didn’t lose my curiosity, but I did learn how vital it is to pay attention. That’s especially true about the Bible. God got it right on every subject, and not paying attention to Him can be fatal.
Here’s something recently published in the newspaper: “Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Singapore on Friday….” He was addressing an interfaith gathering where he said, “All religions are a path to arrive at God. They are like different languages to arrive there. But God is God for all.”
Those are lovely sentiments. The true God IS God for all. He said, “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
Now I’ve heard the suggestion that we’re in the same boat, but using different paddles. We’re all climbing a mountain by different paths, but we’ll arrive at the same destination. But there’s a problem. If we’re going downhill, the analogy doesn’t work.
Do you really think the generation known for two World Wars, the Holocaust, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao, the dissolving of the family, and having more slaves in the world than at any time in history, is going uphill?
We’re in the same boat, all right, but headed for trouble, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22-23) If we were PAYING ATTENTION to God’s Word, we’d hear Jesus say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).
Or this: “Let it be known to you all…that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.…Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10, 12) Other beliefs have their good points, but there’s only one Savior.
It’s good to be sincere. Unfortunately, you can be sincerely wrong. So here are some pay-attention questions.
1. Is there a reason the Bible has been the world’s best seller every year since the 1600s? Are we missing out by using it just to file obits and press flowers? Telling God someday, “I never knew,” will ring hollow with His Word on sale at Walmart.
2. Does what people say align with the whole Bible, not just some pet verse? You can prove anything you want from the Bible—if you take it out of context. It says, “There is no God”—but is quoting a fool at the time. Be fair when you handle the Bible.
3. Are you letting what you don’t understand about the Bible rob you of what you can understand? Would you rather have clever arguments about the first creation or be part of the New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and have forgiveness, peace, and certainty about your forever?
If you don’t pay attention, you’ll still pay, maybe more than you imagine.
Article by Jabe Nicholson first published in the Commercial Dispatch, Saturday, October 5, 2024.