For those of you not familiar with the term, “word study”:
The Word Study: Defining a Biblical Worldview – The word study involves more than going to a dictionary to define a word. It is the method of scholarship that puts the student on the pathway of developing the habits of reflective thinking and deductive reasoning from Scripture. The word study places the truths of God’s Word at the center of all learning, which illuminates the understanding and consecrates the mind.
Word Study:
- Builds vocabulary
- Increases reading comprehension and verbal scores
- Establishes precise word usage in written and oral communication
- Cultivates the habit of critical thinking
- Produces deductive reasoning skills – cause (internal) to effect (external)
- Sharpens discernment of truth from error
- Inculcates lifetime habits of scholarship and aids in establishing a Biblical worldview
- Research: The word is defined, using Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, key words are identified within the definition, and the key words are defined. Each word is then researched using a Bible concordance.
- Reason: A definition of the word is written in your own words.
- Relate: Application of the definition and the Biblical principles deduced are written, according to the intended purpose and your own life.
- Record: The completed work is filed in your notebook (or in this case, here on the blog)
Today’s word for study is ATTENTIVE.
Key Word Definitions:
heedful: watchful; cautious; circumspect; wary.
watchful: vigilant; observant
cautious: careful to avoid evils; attentive to examine probable effects and consequences of measures.
circumspect: cautious; prudent; watchful on all sides; examining carefully all the circumstances that may affect a determination.
wary: carefully watching and guarding against deception
intent: fixed closely; eager pursuit of an object; anxiously diligent
observant: taking notice; attentively viewing; obedient; adhering to in practice; submissive
regard: to guard, keep, defend; discern; respect, esteem, attention of the mind.
care: to be concerned about
Attentive Defined in My Own Words:
To be attentive is to take notice, being diligent and watchful, while having an awareness of the effects and consequences of any action so as to avoid evils and to guard against deception. And to eagerly pursue and adhere to a practice with attention and obedience.
Biblical References:
Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. (Deut. 12:28)
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (Matt. 7:24, 26)
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. (Matt. 13:16)
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Prov. 2:1-5)
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Tim 1:7)
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. (Proverbs 19:20)
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. (Isaiah 48:17-18)