You Entice Me

The merest thought of You makes my heart quiver with anticipation.
I long to simply see You smile; to hear Your whispered satisfaction
Like a parent whose child gives unstinting devotion and worship
With no thought to anything but his parent's happiness.
You draw me to You. Irresistible and unrestrained--
Unbridled passion pours from You in waves of holy light
Threatening to sweep me off my feet and swirl me away.
Yet though I am afraid, I desperately want to let go and get lost in Your flood;
To know the abandon of gain through loss, of joy through suffering,
Of true life through death and learn my meaning in the mirror of Your Presence.
You entice me.
I am intrigued.
And more than that, I think
I am in love
With You!
How do I know?
In a myriad of subtle ways.
Yet I am selfish still.
Even this love in me is unconsecrated;
Impure since I am, unhappily, all too human.
Yet You are holy, pure, and good
And in Your cleansing flood can my faulty, frail love
Be transformed into something new and beautiful--
Metamorphosed.
From beneath Your shed blood I emerge wholly different;
Seeing with new eyes, feeling with a renewed heart;
Become that changed creature of promise
I have seen in Your mirror eyes
And have longed to become
So that I may serve You better.
Your hand grasps mine;
Drawing me into Your sweet embrace
Until I am lost in Your loving Presence--
Your enticements fulfilled in my final act of surrender.

John Schneider April, 2005