Your favorite celebrity posts on social media. Your favorite YouTuber just uploaded a video. “Oomf” just tweeted. Your best friend just texted you the latest news about concert tickets to a favorite band. All of these things require something that’s very, very valuable. Our attention. This poses a question that is silently plaguing our society:
What takes up our attention?
Now most of the time when you hear a lesson or a sermon or you read a blog post about attention, it’s all about giving our attention to Jesus, and making sure that He’s at the the center of our attention, and that’s important, but there’s another problem with our attention and where it’s directed. Our attention is always divided. When’s the last time that you had a conversation with your best friend without one of you getting on your phone? Or interrupting each other? According to my latest Google search, our attention span is eight seconds long. If our best friend doesn’t catch our attention within eight seconds of the story, then we’re not going to pay attention to them.
I don’t know about you, but I think that there is something seriously wrong with that. I don’t know how many of you know about the Five Love Languages, but I love them. There are five (obviously): Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, and Tokens of Appreciation. My top two are Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. Part of quality time is paying attention to the person you’re spending time with. If you’re on your phone for long periods of time and I’m trying to talk to you, I’m not gonna feel valued. I have wished at times that people paid more attention to me, and I know that people have wished that I paid more attention to them. I think that we have a problem as a society with not giving our attention to the things that matter.
I’m not saying that celebrities and YouTube and crushes and concerts aren’t important.
But friends and family and school and hobbies (such as theatre, debate, or sportball) are more important. Luke 6:38 says “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Most of the time when we think about giving, for me at least, we think about our money, or our time, or giving a smile to someone who looks sad. All of those are great things and God can do wonderful things with that, but we never talk about giving our attention. We need to think about what matters, and give those things our full attention. Because God gives us every good thing. James 1:17 says “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” The Afters sing “You’re the reason for every good thing, every heartbeat. Every day we get to breathe. You’re the reason for anything that lasts, every second chance, every laugh. Life is so sweet.” When we give our attention to the good things that God gave us, we give our attention to God. Next time your best friend is speaking to you, listen. Don’t check your Instagram while playing a game with your little brother. Actually study for the history test that’s coming up, and give your all to the hobbies that are important to you. Because we all love attention in some way. Give your whole attention to the things that really matter, and it will pay off. Turn off and tune in.
What takes up our attention?
Now most of the time when you hear a lesson or a sermon or you read a blog post about attention, it’s all about giving our attention to Jesus, and making sure that He’s at the the center of our attention, and that’s important, but there’s another problem with our attention and where it’s directed. Our attention is always divided. When’s the last time that you had a conversation with your best friend without one of you getting on your phone? Or interrupting each other? According to my latest Google search, our attention span is eight seconds long. If our best friend doesn’t catch our attention within eight seconds of the story, then we’re not going to pay attention to them.
I don’t know about you, but I think that there is something seriously wrong with that. I don’t know how many of you know about the Five Love Languages, but I love them. There are five (obviously): Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, and Tokens of Appreciation. My top two are Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. Part of quality time is paying attention to the person you’re spending time with. If you’re on your phone for long periods of time and I’m trying to talk to you, I’m not gonna feel valued. I have wished at times that people paid more attention to me, and I know that people have wished that I paid more attention to them. I think that we have a problem as a society with not giving our attention to the things that matter.
I’m not saying that celebrities and YouTube and crushes and concerts aren’t important.
But friends and family and school and hobbies (such as theatre, debate, or sportball) are more important. Luke 6:38 says “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Most of the time when we think about giving, for me at least, we think about our money, or our time, or giving a smile to someone who looks sad. All of those are great things and God can do wonderful things with that, but we never talk about giving our attention. We need to think about what matters, and give those things our full attention. Because God gives us every good thing. James 1:17 says “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” The Afters sing “You’re the reason for every good thing, every heartbeat. Every day we get to breathe. You’re the reason for anything that lasts, every second chance, every laugh. Life is so sweet.” When we give our attention to the good things that God gave us, we give our attention to God. Next time your best friend is speaking to you, listen. Don’t check your Instagram while playing a game with your little brother. Actually study for the history test that’s coming up, and give your all to the hobbies that are important to you. Because we all love attention in some way. Give your whole attention to the things that really matter, and it will pay off. Turn off and tune in.