The Importance of an Attentive Heart

            To have biblical Restoration people must have an attentive heart to God’s law.  In Nehemiah 8:2-3, as Ezra read from the Law, “the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.”  If there was going to be a successful restoration in Ezra’s time, the people had to pay attention to the Laws of God.  What a great privilege this was for the Israelites.  It had been well over 70 years since all the people had gathered together in unity to hear the Word of God read to them.  No doubt, when one reads Nehemiah 8:3 he can sense the silence in the crowd.  The expression “could have heard a pin drop” fits this assembly accurately.  The people were not bored while Ezra was reading, but rather they were “hanging on the edge of their seats.” They were in tune with every word the faithful scribe read.  Today, speech experts have suggested that the attention span of most people is only 7-8 minutes, unless the speaker is dynamically talented.  However, Ezra read from the morning until the middle of the day and the people remained attentive.

            Unlike the Israelites, people today have become “bored to death” with the Bible.  This boredom can be seen by the entertainment era that is overwhelming many congregations today.  Many people have left reading, exhortation, and doctrine behind and have moved to fun, fun, fun (I Tim 4:13).  To restore an attentive spirit today, we must realize the superb importance and great worth of the Word of God.  What makes the Bible so important that someone would want to be attentive to it?  The Bible is important because it is the spiritual nourishment for man’s soul.  Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (Jn 6:51).  The Bible is important because Jesus is the bread of spiritual life, and the only way to know Jesus is to know the Bible.  The Bible is important because it is the very words from the mouth of God.  In 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul said, “ all scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The Greek word for inspiration is theopneustos, which is defined as “God breathed.”  How wonderful it is to know the Bible we now have is the words from the breath of God Himself.  With this in mind, how can we not be attentive to the Word of God?  We greatly need the restoration of an attentive heart to the Word of God today. The only way we can do that is to realize its great importance!