What Does Benji Need?

I went back to playing the piano, and a moment later, there was Benji, sitting next to me, looking at me again.

“OK,” I thought.  “Maybe he’s not hungry, maybe he needs to go outside to do some business.”

So I got up from the piano again and took him outside.  I don’t know if Benji did any business or not, because I went back to my piano to practice.

But a short while later, guess what happened?  Yep, there was Benji sitting next to me, looking at me again.

This time, I thought “Maybe he wants to play."  So I got a tennis ball (he loves the tennis ball) and a rope and we played for a bit.

When I thought he’d had enough, I put the toys away and went back to practicing the piano.  And Benji had a nap. 

THE END.

No, it wasn’t the end.  There was Benji again.  Sitting next to my piano bench, staring at me.

I was thinking, “What does he want?  I fed him, I took him outside, I played with him…”  But there was Benji.  Just sitting next to me, looking at me.

Now Benji will be among the first to tell you, I’m not always that quick to figure things out, but while I was petting him, I realized - this is what he wants.  He just wants to spend time with me - to be with me.  It wasn’t some big or fancy thing.  He just wanted to be with me, because Benji loves me.

It got me thinking - do we come to God because we want something, or because we need something?  We should go to God for those reasons, but I wondered, do I pray with God just to spend time with Him?  Just to hang out with Him?

I realized Benji had taught me an important lesson.  I don’t have to have a reason to be with God.  I can just…  be with Him.  I can just spend time with Him.  And you can too.