I’ve written this blog somewhere before . . .

“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.”
-Proverbs 4:20

It really feels like I’ve written about this verse a lot.

Those of you who have been reading this blog from the beginning know what I’m talking about. Solomon has stopped several times so far to urge his son to pay attention, to listen, to keep these words near to his heart.

Frankly, when I decided to write my reactions to Proverbs verse-by-verse, I really didn’t expect to write about what is essentially the same verse over and over again.

You have to wonder about this kid, right? I mean, if Solomon is having to stop every twenty verses or so to say, “Listen to this,” you have to wonder if his son had heard a single word.

Or you have to wonder if we are listening, because he’s directing this to us as well.

And that’s the thing. We probably aren’t listening at all.

Almost all of us have a Bible at home, and we know we should be reading it, but we usually don’t. We all know we should go to church, but we usually don’t. We all know that we should be focusing on God every day, but there’s just so much else to do!

You have to wonder if we really know any of these things. If you really believe your very life depends on whether the words of this book are true or not, I imagine that you would be digging through it every chance you got. If you really believe that your pride, lust, selfishness, and hatred would kill you in the end, I imagine you’d be seeking a way out.

If you really believed in a God who would judge you in the end, I’m willing to bet you’d be concentrating on Him every single day.

Listen. Pay attention to my words. I can sum up the entire message of Christian Pilgrimage pretty quickly – “You’re a sinner, and you’ll die without the Blood of Jesus. Repent and believe.” Our blogs and podcasts are all based on that, and it really doesn’t get boring, because it’s important. I don’t want to do a series on your finances or sex life because you need to nail this one down first.

God is a just God, and He will judge us all for our actions, our words, and our thoughts. And you’re not good enough to make it. You don’t have a chance on your own. But He also loves us, and He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on a Cross for us. See, sin cannot be forgiven without the spilling of blood, and His Blood is an atonement for us.

Repent of your sins. Fall on your knees and repent. Believe in Jesus. There is no other way.

Listen to my words – there is no other way. You cannot earn it, but Jesus can, and He earned it for us.