“Chocolate!”

My granddaughter shouts with joy…

She runs into the kitchen, takes a tiny bite of a piece of chocolate…

Replaces the remains on the kitchen counter, and runs back to wherever she is playing.

The one-bite-at-a-time chocolate routine started when my wife and I learned that while chocolate may look cute on the hands and face of a three year old…

Chocolate hand prints on the walls and furniture are another matter…

“Eat your chocolate in the kitchen,” we said.

We assumed she’d eat the chocolate… give us a chance to wipe off her hands and face and then go back to whatever she was doing.

Silly grandparents.

What three year old stands in one place long enough to eat an entire piece of candy?

Watching her run back and forth between her candy and her toys, I wondered…

Is that the way I approach God?

Do I run back and forth between God and the world?

Do I leave God sitting on a shelf somewhere?

Do I run to God only when I want something?

Do I think I am honoring God by keeping him in a safe “sacred” place?

Do I miss the opportunity to be fully connected to him, no matter what I am doing?

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

Do I spend just enough time around God to get my hands a little dirty…

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

but not enough to give him my whole heart?

“…love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37

Do I forget that nothing, absolutely nothing, matters as much as my relationship with God?

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36