Most dog lovers would agree that walking a dog that pulls is
no fun. For me, it guarantees that the
walk will be cut short. Refusing to
heel, the dog who pulls doesn’t accept their walker’s authority to determine
the course of the walk. As a result, the
dog chokes itself on its collar, is frustrated by repeatedly being forcefully
pulled away from what it was pursuing, and finds itself back home long before it
would’ve wanted to return.
But such are the consequences of not trusting that your
walker knows where to go to provide the best sniffing trails, sufficient
exercise, lots of fresh air, and all the while keeping you safe. The most well-behaved and trusted dogs are
even let off-leash because they understand what is expected of them and they
know their owner will not lead them astray.
We could learn a thing or two from dogs. How many of us spend much of our time pulling
forcefully in various directions without first checking with God to see where
He’d have us walk? Surely He knows
better where we should and shouldn’t go to enjoy a relatively stress-free
leisurely walk. But if we refuse to obey
when God IS trying to lead us, what makes us think He’ll continue to lead
us? He wants to enjoy the walk with us,
but He won’t keep leading us against our will.
The natural consequence is that we get left behind. We can bark and shout all we want, but
without a proven obedient walk, we haven’t earned the right to being led by
God. And without God walking us, the
best we can do is look out the window and live vicariously through others.
So when God says “heel”, we better do what He says, and
enjoy the walk. Otherwise we’ll get left
behind.
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| Our two furry kids. |
too cute pooky
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