I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      "May I have your attention, please?”  You have probably heard this request many times, but how often do you grant your undivided attention to others?

                                                             1.      In this age of distractions, when people are steering cars with one hand while texting on cell phones with the other, undivided attention is a rare commodity.

                                                             2.      Attracting someone’s eyes, ears, and hearts for more than thirty seconds in this attention-deficit generation is a grand feat indeed.

B.      The Lord deserves and demands our undivided attention, so let us give it to Him.

                                                             1.      It is time for us to be quiet and listen to what the Lord is saying.  "But the LORD is in His holy temple.  Let all the earth be silent before Him” (Hab. 2:20).

                                                             2.      When our minds are quiet and our attention is focused on the Lord, God will bless us with wisdom beyond measure.

II.      GIVE YOUR ATTENTION TO GOD

A.      God speaks to us through His Son and His word, so let us give attention to Him through these.

                                                             1.      Every man, woman, and child is obligated to pay attention to, listen to, and heed their Creator.

a.       Notice Hebrews 1:1-2 – "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”

b.       When Jesus was transfigured, the Father commanded Peter, James, and John to "listen to Him” (Matt. 17:5).  We likewise must listen to Him now.

                                                             2.      We pay attention to our God when we listen to His word in the Bible.

a.       Paul declared, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2Tim. 3:16-17).

b.       For this reason, we ought always to "give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1Tim. 4:13).  Consider how the people of Ezra’s time stood up when the Scriptures were read (Neh. 8:5).

c.        Moreover, we should apply ourselves diligently to the personal study of God’s word so that we will be able to handle it accurately (2Tim. 2:15).

                                                             3.      It is of great benefit to us when we give attention to God’s word.

a.       God’s word illuminates us when we pay attention to it.

i.         Notice 2Peter 1:19 – "So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

ii.        David said, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105).

b.       When we give careful attention to God’s word, we are less likely to fall away from its guiding light.  Notice Hebrews 2:1 – "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

                                                             4.      Therefore, take time every day to give attention to God through His word.

a.       Make it the desire of your heart to attend to God’s word.  "Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1Pet. 2:2).

b.       Don’t just have a casual reading as you would a newspaper, but seek to understand what God is saying to you as if your soul depends on it (it does!).

B.      Let us give God further attention by meditating on the things we learn in His word.

                                                             1.      God’s word reveals to us those things that are spiritual and heavenly, and our minds should become occupied with such things.

a.       We cannot spend every moment of the day reading or listening to the Bible, but God’s word can continuously occupy our minds even when we are doing other things.

b.       Consider these Scriptural messages that assign our attention to heavenly things.

i.         "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Col. 3:2)

ii.        "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Phil. 4:8)

iii.      "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16)

                                                             2.      This practice of dwelling on God’s word is meditation, and it should be a habit of every Christian.

a.       Meditation is often associated with the mystic, eastern religions, but it has an important place in the religion of the followers of the true and living God.

b.       Consider some messages concerning meditation from the Psalms.

i.         "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14)

ii.        "My mouth will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will be understanding.” (Ps. 49:3)

iii.      "Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; as for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.” (Ps. 104:34)

iv.      "O how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the day.” (Ps. 119:97)

v.       "I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.” (Ps. 119:99)

III.   GIVE NO ATTENTION TO THESE

A.      As we give our attention to the Lord, let us turn our attention away from the world.

                                                             1.      Notice again Colossians 3:2 and focus and the latter part of it – "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

                                                             2.      As we give more and more of our attention to God, less and less will be available for worldly things.  This will give us a greater level of spirituality and understanding of spiritual things (1Cor. 2:14-16).

B.      Consider some specific, worldly thoughts that are unworthy of our attention.

                                                             1.      We must not be captivated by the seductive and deceptive theories and philosophies of men that contradict God’s word.

a.       Notice Colossians 2:8 – "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

b.       The world today is filled with this kind of worldly wisdom (Jas. 3:15), such as:

i.         Darwinian evolution – life evolved by random, chance happenings

ii.        Humanism – human reason and experience are the only guides for human life

iii.      Statism – government is the ultimate authority and solution to all problems

c.        Many men are deceived by such philosophies today, but Christians must not be.

                                                             2.      Likewise, we must not be led astray by false religious teachings.

a.       First-century Christians were warned about paying attention to "myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation” (1Tim. 1:4); "deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1Tim. 4:1); and "Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth” (Tit. 1:14).

b.       Today, similar influences work to capture our attention, such as denominational creed books, catechisms, charismatic false preachers and television personalities (Max Lucado, Joel Osteen), trendy religious books and fads (The Purpose Driven Life, The Prayer of Jabez, the prosperity gospel), wild predictions and false prophecies (Harold Camping’s prediction of May 21, 2011), unfounded speculations (The Davinci Code), etc.

                                                             3.      It is not that we should be unaware or ignorant of these things, but we should not allow them to capture our attention away from the word of God so that these worldly things replace God’s heavenly things.

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      Right now, many voices are calling on us, saying, "May I have your attention, please?”

B.      We will answer these voices, and someone will win our attention.  Who will it be?  Will it be God when we heed His word in the Bible?  Or will it be the world when we get caught up the ways of men and Satan?