May I have your attention please?

We are right in the middle of tax season. You know what that means: On every main street corner you will see a person dressed up in a Statue of Liberty costume holding a sign that reads something like "tax returns completed here!" or "Free e-file tax return here!" The sign is long, and the person has to hold it and dance with it, just like Lady Liberty would, or I assume she would if she was holding that sign. (I have a feeling that she would have nothing to do with it). Mr. or Miss Liberty's job is to get your attention and get you to think about going to where ever that arrow sign is pointing to get your taxes done there.

As I was driving in my car today, I think I counted six of them on various corners throughout town and I began thinking about what God does to get our attention.  How many wake up calls have you had in your life? I know I've had quite a few and I could go on about what God does to get our attention. But that's just way too easy.

You know that theory about people doing whatever it takes to get other people's attention? You know, that "bad attention is better than no attention"? I remember falling into that trap while raising my children. Privileges constantly get taken away because homework isn't done, or the same misbehavior happens so the same consequences are given. At one point, I changed the way I gave attention, finding ways to give praise. Even saying please and thank you to my kids seemed to make a difference. Telling them I love them more, hugging, kissing and forgiving them made a difference. Sure, there were still consequences, but my attitude was different about those consequences.

Here's another thought: What if we were the sign holder and had to act silly to get God's attention? Think about it. What if we had to do whatever it takes, act out, misbehave, yell and scream (or dance silly for that matter) to get God's attention?

Guess what: We have God's attention all the the time. Forever. He is paying attention. When we feel like we don't matter to anyone, we matter to Him. When we don't feel loved, He loves us. He is there for us 24/7. When we screw up, we still pay the consequences, but He's still watching over us. What do we have to do to get God's attention? Absolutely nothing. We already have it. We will always have God's attention.

And I think He enjoys it when I dance silly. (But I'm not putting the Statue of Liberty costume on!)