Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. – Hebrews 10:22
About a year ago, my husband and I decided that it was time to add a new kitten to our household. Checking with our local pet shop, I was given the phone number of a family seeking a good home for two kittens. Standing outside their fenced yard, I held a mewing fur ball in my arms. He was a beautiful little creature, his bold, black and grey striping liberally accented by pure white.
A couple of weeks following his arrival at our house, some close friends of ours stopped in for a brief visit. Being animal lovers, they asked to see the kitten, who was vocally making his presence known. Perhaps wishing to add to our pleasure as adoptive “parents,” one of our guests remarked, “His eyes look so intelligent!”
Before long this cat revealed his brilliance, combined with his athletic prowess, by hanging from curtains, shredding upholstery, and leaping from the furniture to the mantel above the fireplace. Occasionally, we heard his musical talent demonstrated as he plunked himself onto the keyboard from the top of the piano.
One morning, he truly did astound me. Having discovered that he enjoyed catching a fuzzy tennis ball with his front claws, I rolled the ball a few feet across the floor toward him. He grabbed it, and then I walked over to retrieve the ball. When I picked up the ball, the cat moved to a position across from me, crouching down to catch the next toss. He did that several times, trading sides with me in order to keep the game going.
I wondered how a mere domestic cat could be that smart. Still mentally shaking my head in amazement, I pondered a distantly related thought. A wonderful Being, possessing intelligence far beyond any capability known to man, is calling each one of us to get up out of our rut and move closer to Him! Our cat positioned himself correctly to catch a fuzzy ball, and we can choose to place ourselves in line to receive God’s blessing.
To properly position ourselves before the Lord, we must prepare our hearts, laying aside the less-meaningful pleasures of this life to experience the joy that floods through a soul that is open and yielded to His Spirit. If we long to find the treasures in His Word—to become better acquainted with God Himself—He will surely reveal Himself to the heart that waits before Him.
As we seek God with our whole hearts, we will find that He is more wonderful than we ever dreamed. And He isn’t just playing a short-term game with us. He invites us to become partakers of His divine nature so that our joy can continue eternally with Him!