Look at me!

Small children crave attention. They want to be noticed (unless of course they are up to no good!). The first bike ride on two wheels will have a child calling out, “look at me!” And this cry for attention started much earlier in the cry of the newborn. “Pay attention to me, I need you to notice me and be attentive to me.”

Adult maturity might cause us to be not so obvious in our attention-getting devices. But we still like to be noticed. We want our achievements to be recorded. We want out delights to be shared. We want our sadnesses to be appreciated. We want someone to care enough to stop what they are doing and fix their eyes and ears and heart and mind on us.

Our text reminds us that God has that sort of attentiveness. It describes his care for his Old Testament people, a care that is extended to all his people. We are the apple of his eye. We don’t need to kick and yell and scream to get his attention. We already have it. And we can see that it is not merely a smiling face of a distant observer but the strong help of one who participates in our lives.

We don’t have to work extra-hard or pray extra-long or be extra-studious or win thousands of converts. We are noticed just as we are. No one else might notice us but our Creator does. He knows all our despair and delight, all our frailty and faithfulness. Somehow, because he is God, we are not just one of a milling, anonymous crowd but the object of his strong and loving attention. We are the apple of his eye.

Blessings
David Reay