Last week I attended a workshop in San Marcus. It was a time for preachers and other church leaders to get ideas about their work and how to be better servants for God.

During one of the evening services there was a family sitting in front of me. A blond headed little girl of about three sat in her mother’s lap. She would take her arms and wrap them around her mother’s neck and lock her fingers together. She was so glad to have her mother there, it seemed she did not want her to get away.

Later as I reflected on this I thought of our God. He is a loving parent as the parable in Luke 15 describes. He is always waiting and watching for us. He desires we have a close relationship with Him. He has provided salvation for every person on earth through His Son, Jesus Christ. He wants us to respond to Him and hold on to Him in a tight manner. He desires us to always be near Him.

God does not make us choose Him. The child I saw did not get to choose her mother. But there has been a strong bond that has developed between the two and they are close. When we choose God we have chosen the very best we could choose. So, why do some people, after choosing God, stray away from Him? The answers to that are varied and there is not one that fits every person. But one of the things that happen to some people is that they are so enticed by what the world offers, they drift away from God. Read about Demas in Colossians 4:14 as he is working alongside the Apostle Paul. And then later Paul would say in 2 Timothy 4:10 that Demas, "loved this present world" and had departed from him. Things like fame and fortune all play a part in leaving God.

Some folks get so involved in sin that they leave God. Alcohol gets hold of someone and soon they are alcoholics. Illegal drugs cause one to forget about God as they are hooked and constantly need to get high. These keep one from reaching their potential for God.

And yet our God waits...and looks… and waits some more. He desires we choose Him. And when we do, He runs to meet us. He restores us to the rightful place we have as children of His. He doesn’t chase. He doesn’t search high and low. He waits till we choose Him. And when we do, let’s lock our fingers around His neck and never let Him go.