It is Necessary to Pay More Than the Usual Attention - Listen With Your Ears, Heart, Mind, Whole Body!

[Bible Speaks]

Lesson for today. (Heb 5:14)  

"It is necessary for us to pay more than the usual attention to the things heard by us,” wrote Paul, “that we may never drift away.”

(Heb. 2:1) Such drifting away from the faith can happen before we realize it. We can avoid having this experience by paying “more than the usual attention” during our consideration of spiritual truths.

Therefore, each of us needs to ask: ‘Am I still considering just elementary things? Could I merely be going through the motions and floating along, as it were, without my heart being fully involved with the truth? How can I make genuine spiritual progress?’

Pressing on to maturity calls for our putting forth effort in at least two areas. We must get well-acquainted with the Word of God. And we need to learn obedience. “Everyone that partakes of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness,” wrote Paul, “for he is a babe.” (Heb. 5:13)

To attain maturity, we must become well-acquainted with God’s word, his message to us.

Since this message is contained in his Word, the Bible, we should be good students of the Scriptures and the publications of “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45-47)

Absorbing God’s thinking in this way can help us to train our perceptive powers. Consider the example of a Christian named Orchid. She says: “The reminder that has had the biggest effect on my life is the one about regular Bible reading. It took me about two years to finish the whole Bible, but it seemed that I was meeting my Creator for the first time. I learned about his ways, his likes and his dislikes, the degree of his power, and the depth of his wisdom. Reading the Bible daily has sustained me through some of the darkest moments of my life.”

Becoming acquainted with the Bible involves more than being familiar with what it says. Individuals must acquaint themselves with the message by allowing it to guide them in making wise decisions in their lives.

To become acquainted with the Word of God means to know what it says and to put that knowledge into practice.

Pressing on to maturity requires that we do our utmost to obey Jehovah. Are we obedient to Jehovah in these matters even under adversity

Our obedience is an indication that we have progressed toward maturity. Our attaining maturity requires that we train our perceptive powers. We do this by putting forth effort to get better acquainted with God’s Word and by learning obedience.  

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2009360?q=maturity+obedience&p=par#h=14