Attending, listening, hearkening, and obeying are words with which all Bible students are familiar. Although they may appear on first examination to be anything but synonymous, they will be found on closer examination to express attitudes and activities very closely and intimately related, if not indeed completely identical.
It has been very aptly said that the capacity to learn or to extend one's mental horizon is largely the measure of one's capacity to attend. We certainly do not hear that to which we do not in any degree attend; and the possibilities of obedience depend directly upon the accuracy with which we discern the nature of the demands made upon us.
It is interesting and helpful to note that the act and attitude of placing one's ear to receive impressions is implied in the etymology of both "attending" and "obeying." "Attending" implies literally stretching or reaching out towards, and "obeying" means giving ear to, with the implied purpose in each case of hearing or receiving impressions from a source not ourselves. The attitude enjoined by both attention and obedience is thus one of receptivity. If attention is an essential factor of receptivity, obedience is the same to expression of every kind.
