Paying Attention to Jesus

According to a French newspaper, a bank employee in Germany made a really big mistake by simply not paying attention and falling asleep.  The employee nodded off at his work computer while making money transfers.  During the nap, the employee's hand came to rest on the 2 key of his keyboard.  As a result, the man ordered a 222,222,222.22 euro transfer when he intended to transfer 62.40.  Mistake indeed.

We laugh, but many of us are tempted to do something similar in our devotional lives.  We pay little attention to our relationship with Jesus, fall asleep, and wake up to find an embarrassing mistake.  It plays out like this: wait for a convenient time to pray and study the Bible.  Then, find that devotion to Christ is rarely convenient.  Follow by never studying the Bible, never praying, and rarely worshiping with other christians.  Then, fall asleep on your spiritual life because of lack of activity.  End with a rude awakening where you 
learn what went wrong during your nap.

The Apostle Paul encouraged early Christians to avoid such mistakes by simply paying attention to Jesus.  In Romans 12, the apostle writes, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”  In other words, pay attention to your devotional life.  Don’t fall asleep on your relationship with Jesus.  Paying attention to Jesus keeps us out of all kinds of trouble.

           

As you go through the coming week, commit anew to talking with Jesus in prayer, reading about Jesus in the Bible, and thinking about Jesus during quiet time.  Pay attention to Jesus this week.  You will find riches in His goodness and ultimately avoid mistakes that can break the spiritual bank.