"I smile when I see God watching me through the eyes of a horse."

I borrowed this saying with a picture of a horse looking straight at the camera on my facebook page the other day.  It reminded me of the times when I go down to the barn and all three of our horses come running.  They want to be with me.  Maybe they have different reasons or needs they are hoping I will meet, but they want to be near me.  This is the goal of natural horsemanship.  Not to make the horse do what I want, but rather to find a way to make the horse WANT to be with me. 

Isn't that what Jesus did?  He came to our territory, spoke our language, and tried to show us that God doesn't just want us to follow a list of rules.  He wants to be WITH us!  He wants to spend time with us, to comfort us, to meet our needs.  In response, His desire is not that we do all the right things and go through the motions.  No, He wants us to WANT to BE WITH Him.  He wants us to run to Him whenever we see HIm.  Wherever we see Him; in the laughter of a child,  the kindness of a stranger, the dreams of a friend, and yes, even in the eyes of a horse.   

Our horses don't always run to me.  Sometimes I have to wait awhile.  Sometimes I have to go get them.  Sometimes I pretend I'm not there to get them, in order to be more interesting to them.  But I always get a thrill of delight when they run to me.  Imagine how the Father feels when we see Him and immediately come running!