TODAY’S
WORD FOR THURSDAY JULY 25, 2013.
IGNORE
DEFINITION:
To
refrain from noticing or recognizing; to refuse to pay attention to.
SCRIPTURE:
He
does not ignore the cry of the afflicted. Psalm 9:12.
How
shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? Hebrews 2:3
KNOWLEDGE
AND EXPERIENCE:
It
is easy to ignore things in life that we do not want to deal with. It was very
annoying to us as parents to have our children ignore what we would say to
them. We are all guilty of ignoring someone or something at one time or
another. As the saying goes, "It goes in one ear and out the other."
We ignore people even though we do not like to be ignored.
Some
people just plain shut the outside world out of their mind when they are
involved in certain projects. They are often accused of ignoring a word or
conversation being carried on with them from another party. In many of these
situations they do not hear what is being said because their entire
concentration is on what they are doing.
But
there are many that are in the same situation and they hear but do not want to
admit that they are listening. They do this on purpose and then use as an
excuse, an outward lie, that they did not hear what was said.
How
fortunate we are that we have a loving God who does not ignore us even though
day by day we continually ignore Him. You may ask, how do you ignore God? You
ignore God when you do not read the Bible, His Word, daily. This is how God
speaks to you, through your reading what He is saying in His Word. You also
ignore God when you do not take time everyday to pray to God. How else can you
communicate to God? When you ignore reading the Bible and praying every day,
you are ignoring God.
God
sent His Son to seek and to save us. In Luke 19:10 we read, "for the Son
of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost." God seeks each and
every one of us, but unfortunately the majority of people in our world today,
just as it has been down through the ages, have chosen to ignore Him.
We
often said our children had selective hearing. They heard what they wanted to
hear. If they were engrossed in what they were doing they would act like they
were listening and even answer, "Uh-huh." When they were asked if
they heard what we said, it would be apparent that they had not really heard a
word and were tuning us out and ignoring us.
In
Matthew 13:13 Jesus warned the crowd, who had come to hear His message, that
some of them, "though hearing, they did not hear." Many respond to
God's offer of His gift of salvation in this same way today. They do not hear
because they choose not to hear.
We
often hope that by ignoring something that it will just go away. Some things in
life, no matter how much we ignore them, will not go away.
The
writer of Hebrews asks this vital question: "How shall we escape if we
ignore such a great salvation?" Everyone must ask themselves this question
because no one will escape God's punishment for their sins if they ignore the
wonderful gift of salvation that God has provided for us through Jesus Christ.
All
of us who are willing to come to God through Christ can be sure that He will
hear our cry of repentance. "He does not ignore the cry of the
afflicted." And remember, no sin is so great that Jesus will not forgive.
LEARNING:
Our
memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 10:36
For
you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may
have received what was promised.
PRAYER:
Thank
You Lord, for Your great gift of salvation. Open the ears and eyes of those in
my family that do not accept Your gift of salvation so that they will hear your
message of love and forgiveness and accept You as their Savior. Help me to
teach my children to listen and obey.
