Pay Attention

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  (2 Peter 1:19) 


Have you ever had the Lord bring the same passage of Scripture before your eyes multiple times in the same week?  I'm sure you have.  


For me this week, it was Isaiah 43:1-3; first in the songs in church, second in a devotion I read daily, today in my appointed (or should I say anointed?) reading.  I do well to pay attention to it.  


Here He tells me to fear not.  Why?  Because He has redeemed me, He has called me by name, I am His.  What better reason could there be?  He will be with me, I will not be overwhelmed by my circumstances, I will not be consumed by them.  Why?  For He is the Lord my God, the Holy One of Israel, my Savior.  


How do I know?  How can I be sure?  Because He has acted in history on my behalf; He came down and rescued me from His own wrath.  This is true, recorded, believable.  These are not mere words; remember the Red Sea?  Remember the resurrection?  God's words are never mere words; He acts on them always.  Unlike us, He is who He says He is.  In fact, pay attention to when He names Himself in Scripture; it is often followed by what He has done: Thus says the Lord who made you (Isaiah 44:2); Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea (Isaiah 43:18); I am the Lord you God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Deuteronomy 5:6).


So, by His grace, I will fear not.  I will pay attention to these words of the Holy One of Israel, our Savior.  He really does mean what He says.