Why God made Dogs

Ever since I became a dog owner last year, I've been noticing things about our puppy that I'm sure dog lovers know quite well. See, I used to like cats and didn't really care for dogs. Of course, Denali has changed all that, and I wouldn't even dream of having a cat over a dog now.

A couple of weeks ago, as God was trying to get my attention once again, I started thinking about how much my relationship to Denali was like God's relationship to me. It was a little disturbing to realize how much I act like my dog in God's eyes...

Like any dog, Denali has the habit of eating almost anything that she thinks is good for her, regardless of if it actually is or not. She eats dryer sheets, Kleenex, rocks, dirt, grass, almost anything that hits the floor in the kitchen (not too fond of carrots, though), cat poop, goose poop, and other things that I'm sure are worse. (and licks my face afterward....).

Sometimes, she throws up her ill advised snack only to try to eat it again. Sometimes, she's fearful that I will try to take something away from her, so she wolfs it down before I can get it. Sometimes, she lays around feeling awful from non-food making its way through her digestive tract. And the sad thing is that she probably doesn't associate feeling bad with what she ate.

Like any human, I have the habit of doing almost anything that I think....wait a minute!
...
/sigh. Yes, I do things regardless of whether it is good for me or not. And, yes, I often consume activities, thoughts, attitudes, and entertainment that is not healthy for me even though God's word warns against such things.

Sometimes, I feel terrible when the consequences of my actions come back on me, but all too often, I don't associate them with the actions that precipitated them. Or, more to the point, I don't want to admit that action/thought A produced consequence B, and after a bit I forget all about or minimize consequence B and go back to doing A.

Denali loves going for walks. We have a retractable leash that we use so she has about a 16' radius that she can wander around as we walk. And let me tell you, she uses every bit of it as she runs back and forth, left and right, around and around. Sometimes she stops and wants to investigate something further, and I end up tugging on the leash to get her to catch up. Other times, she runs on ahead and, on one or two occasions, clothes lined herself.

For the most part, I let her run where ever she wants; there are times, though, that I want her to walk with me in the heel position; times such as when she's spooked by a motorcycle, or if there is a fair bit of traffic, or around small children (she sees them as other dogs and wants to jump on them). It takes some "reminding" of what the heel command means, but, by and large, she remembers and walks with me until I give her the command "free dog."

God loves walking with His children. He uses a pretty big retractable leash on us so we can pretty much go where ever we want. But, just like I won't let Denali just sit there or get too far ahead of me, God won't just let me sit around or run too far ahead (although He's much more patient with me than I am with Denali....Come on, let's go!). And yes, I more prone to sitting and having Him tug on my leash, but there have been times where I've clothes lined myself.

And while God allows a huge amount of freedom in our Christian walk, there are times where He knows it's best for us to be close by Him walking in step with Him; it may be due to rough times on the horizon that we need to be near the comfort of our Father. It might be for our safety and the avoidance of negative consequences. It could be so that we are mindful of our relationship to Him and the other humans so we don't jump all over them.

I love Denali. I see her as a beautiful puppy and a joy to be around. I wouldn't trade her for all the money in the world or even for the best behaved dog in the universe. I love her unconditionally; she could eat my brand new monitor or ruin my most prized possession tonight, and tomorrow, after I'd had a good cry I'm sure, I'd still love her. I mean, come on, she doesn't know what she's doing, she's a dog!

God loves me. He sees me as a beautiful child and a joy to be around. He wouldn't trade me for all the money in the world, in fact He gave His own most precious Son in sacrifice so that He could spend eternity with me! He loves me unconditionally, so when I act like a dog, He understands. I mean, come on, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm dust! Yet He loves me regardless.

So, God made dogs so that I can see myself as He sees me - ignorant, flighty, wonderful, and worth sacrificing for. Lord, help me to be more like you, and less like Denali.