love being around God?

After each trick, they would receive a small fish as reward. Then they brought out the dolphins; same principal, bigger prize. Then the Orcas. For these animals, the prize was not the individual fish, rather buckets of them.

However, as they described the task of training these enormous and intelligent creatures, they said the goal was not just the tricks. Eventually, they want to remove the rewards so that the animals would be willing to swim and perform simply for the enjoyment of being in the water with their trainer.

What an incredible thought. The performance wasn’t the goal. They weren’t content to simply please the audience, but they wanted the animals to be satisfied just to be around their trainer.

Sounds like what God is wanting of us. Although His rewards are rich, He does not want us to perform our faith just so we can receive His blessings. As we mature, He wants us to just love being around Him. We were, after all, created to be God’s companions.

I think Mary had it figured out. In Luke 10, the Bible records an episode where Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet hanging on every word He said.

Luke 10: 38-42 (NIV)

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

In the midst of that, she heard truths that challenged her and encouragement that uplifted her, but I believe that she just enjoyed being around Jesus as well.

She was caught up in the love that she sensed.

Ultimately Jesus declared that Mary “has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42).

Taking time to sit in God’s presence and enjoy the peace that He offers is an amazing treat in this life of chaos that we live in. But, it is something that we often overlook.

So, let’s make it a point to try it today and throughout this week. Let’s take time to sit at His feet and enjoy being in His presence. Don’t come with an agenda or an intense prayer list…just come raw and ask Him to surround you with His presence and make you aware of His pleasure.

You might want to play some worship music in the background if that helps you connect with the reality of His audience…perhaps you need to be outside experiencing His creation. But, whatever needs to happen, make sure that you set aside some time to just enjoy being with Him.