Audio Version of A Norvell Note:
Vol. 18 No. 41 | October 16, 2016
What have you heard today? Take a moment and think back on the last hour, half a day, the last two days, or the last week, and call to mind the things you have heard.
You have the heard the two leading candidates for the highest office in the land use language and make statements that most of us would never use in our most private conversations as they criticize, smear and do everything in they can to discredit their opponent.
You have heard scores and updates and highlights on football games, baseball pennate races, soccer and hockey games.
You have heard comments about the damage done by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and on the East Coast, as well as messages from your children, grandchildren, and friends, and countless commercials and advertisements.
You have heard music. You have heard familiar old songs that have touched your heart and brought back memories of tender moments. You have heard new songs that remind you of what is good in your life and they give you hope about the future.
You have heard a lot. As you go through today you will hear a lot. Many of you will listen with headphones or earbuds to block out other sounds so you can hear what you want to hear. Because you are hearing so many stories, opinions, judgements, conversations, and noise it might be helpful to listen to these words from the New Testament book of Hebrews.
The writer begins the second chapter of Hebrews with this: “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” If you have listened to preachers and Bible teachers you probably understand that the “therefore” in the middle of the sentence is “there for” a reason. Usually it is a reminder to pay attention to what has just been said. As you read through the letter you will notice that the writer of Hebrews uses “therefore” quite often. “Therefore” his statement at the beginning of the sentence is important to him, “We must pay more careful attention to what we have heard.”
When you see “therefore” and you read back over what you just read it helps you connect what you are reading with what was just written. In this case, the writer is reminding us to make sure we understand that he is sharing his testimony (perhaps God’s testimony) about Jesus and the importance of recognizing Him for who He is.
He begins with a descriptive statement about Jesus superiority over the angels: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” (Hebrews 1:1-4, NIV)
Then you come to the statement in chapter 2: “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
The writer is telling you that if you are hearing messages that take you away from God, that cause you to drift away from the Lord, or distracts you from Jesus, you must pay more careful attention.
I think he might also include these warnings.
If you are hearing messages that discourage, you must pay more careful attention.
If you are hearing messages that weaken your resolve to follow Jesus, you must pay more careful attention.
If you are hearing any message that might cause you treat another human disrespectfully or think of another person as inferior you, must pay more careful attention.
If you are hearing a message that makes you feel superior or above Gods laws or the laws of the land, you must pay more careful attention.
If you are hearing messages that cause you to drift away from what you know is right in God’s eyes, you must pay more careful attention.
If you are hearing messages that tell you that anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ is the path to salvation, you must pay more careful attention.
You must pay more careful attention to what you have heard. We have heard, many of us since before we were born, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior, that He is the Lord of all. Are you paying careful attention to those words?
In the next twenty-four hours you will hear many things, many different things. Some will be good and positive words, and some will be uplifting words of truth. Some will be degrading and dehumanizing words. You must pay more careful attention to what you hear and what you have heard. (Here is a song that might help: The Voice of Truth.)
Pay more careful attention to what you have heard and what you will hear this week. It is very important.
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2016. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.