On Playing with Kittens

We've got a couple of cats at the house, one of which is about half a year old. His name is Corporal Nobby Nobbs (I call him Nobster). Don't ask about the name--I didn't name him. My housemates did.

Anyway, ole' Nobster is pretty cool. He's a rambunctious little fellow, always running around biting stuff. I was laying in the floor earlier this evening, playing around with him using a little keychain clip that I have. It's one of those things that has the little cord that extends and retracts. Nobster likes to chomp down on the clasp and pull it out until he lets go, so that it shoots back up into the coil. Then he grabs it again, and the cycle continues.

Watching Nobster, I'm amazed at how enamored he can get with the simplest of things. His eyes get big and black (almost like a great white shark's), and he focuses so intently on whatever toy he has decided to play with--be it a rubber band, a toy mouse, a sock (boy does he love socks...)a piece of string, or just a scrap of paper. It doesn't matter to him. Once he finds his toy, he's sticking with it.

I wish I was the same way with God.

I want to be infatuated with him, desiring him above all things, not letting go no matter how hard something tries to pull me away. Yet so many times, as I attempt to seek God, I get distracted by other things and immediately lose interest. There is no passion in my attempt to seek him. I do not become fixated on the Lord and his Word. I prefer to have my God in small doses whenever I want him, and when something "better" comes along, I go that direction.

How fickle I am! How unfaithful!

I'm reminded of the third verse of one of my favorite hymns, which always encourages me in my times of infidelity:

Oh to grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be.
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.

I want to be enamored with God, like a kitten with a toy. I want to desire God above all things. I don't want to wander around aimlessly, flitting with various worldly things.

Here's my heart, Lord. Take it, seal it, make it yours.

May I always be captivated by you.