He showed her how much He loved her by giving precious moments of undistracted attention-smack dab in the middle of His journey someplace else. He paused to notice her, engage with her, and listen to her story. Jesus halted everything – the conversations, the journey, the crowd – and sought this woman. It was slow going through the thick crowds.Īnd then a woman with a blood sickness quietly touched the hem of Jesus’s robe. A prominent church leader stopped Him and begged Jesus to come heal his daughter, who was deathly ill. In the middle of His ministry one day, Jesus arrived in a new town.
Sometimes you’ll be going about life, tending your business, following Jesus to the next adventure, and He will point out someone who specifically needs the gift of your attention. It could be just the healing balm they need.Ģ. You never know what this gift might mean to another soul. As Jesus passed by, He noticed a paralyzed man who’d been near the pool for 38 years.
Along the way, He passed the pool of Bethesda, a well-known gathering place for people with ailments, hoping to be healed. On one particular journey, Jesus was headed to a festival. They may not tell us with words, but we can see and hear it in their stories. There are people all around us – in our neighborhoods, our churches, our jobs – who are struggling. Here are 6 sacred opportunities to give the gift of undistracted attention – as Jesus did. It’s something He values-this connecting of people-and something that benefits both giver and receiver.Īs we look at Jesus’s example, we might even call the gift of undistracted attention a sacred opportunity.
UNDISTRACTED ATTENTION HOW TO
It’s something Jesus showed us how to do, though long before the days of self-help books and vlogs. To set aside time and forgo distractions to focus on a person directly in front of you is a rare and precious thing. And we get to choose where to spend them.
UNDISTRACTED ATTENTION FULL
And although we’re ‘connected’ in more ways than ever before, the gift of undistracted connection (or your full attention) may be one of the greatest gifts of all.Įvery person on the planet has the identical number of hours, minutes, and seconds in any given week. In our overwhelming and busy culture, it’s apparent that time is a gift.
Every one of us is busy! We all have many responsibilities, people, obligations, and distractions vying for our time and attention. I never fault any friend for needing time to respond to a request to get together, or for accidentally forgetting.