Monday, March 05, 2007
The importance of obedience
This Christmas, I got a wonderful gift - a little Maltese named Jake. He is 1.5 years old, super cute and extremely DISOBEDIENT.
Oh, its not entirely his fault. His owners didn't spend much time with him and he was raised in a garage, where he could do his business all over everything. Now that he's in our home, the rules are much more strict. He needs to learn how to be obedient so that he can co-exist well with us (and with the cat, but that's another story...)
But, the real value of obedience didn't sink in for me until this incident...
It was around 11pm and I remembered that I hadn't checked the mail yet. I opened the front door just a bit to look in the mailbox and before I knew it, this flash of white fur ran past me. Uh, oh. I called him. No use. He kept going - down the path, onto the sidewalk ands towards a busy street. In a panic, I grabbed my shoes and keys. I raced down the sidewalk, calling him the whole time. He keep on running - barking happily, oblivious to the danger of the road ahead. I could feel my heart pounding, I was pleading with him to stop, come, stay- anything!
Somehow, I got him home - but not before a women in a very large Ford pickup pulled in front of my house and said "Is that your little white dog? He ran out right in front of me and I almost hit him." We enrolled in obedience class a week later.
Obedience. Sometimes its for our own good.
I wonder how God feels about some of my behaviours - when I go racing down the metaphorical street, oblivious to the dangers lying ahead. Is he chasing after me, heart pounding, calling my name, hoping I'll stop, come, stay!
Sometimes being obedient to God is a real drag. It means going against my self-gratifying nature in favour of doing what God wants. It might mean spending my precious time or money doing work that God values instead of on hobbies or things that I want. And even if I get the actions right, I'm pretty sure its not just "going through the motions" obedience that God is after. I think its obedience of the heart. There have been plenty of times in my life when I physically show up for something, but my heart is feeling resentful the whole time - like I wish I didn't have to be here doing this - gripe and grumble! Time for an attitude adjustment - that is what I mean by obedience of the heart.
Yes, being obedient is tough work. For doggies and for humans.
Oh, its not entirely his fault. His owners didn't spend much time with him and he was raised in a garage, where he could do his business all over everything. Now that he's in our home, the rules are much more strict. He needs to learn how to be obedient so that he can co-exist well with us (and with the cat, but that's another story...)
But, the real value of obedience didn't sink in for me until this incident...
It was around 11pm and I remembered that I hadn't checked the mail yet. I opened the front door just a bit to look in the mailbox and before I knew it, this flash of white fur ran past me. Uh, oh. I called him. No use. He kept going - down the path, onto the sidewalk ands towards a busy street. In a panic, I grabbed my shoes and keys. I raced down the sidewalk, calling him the whole time. He keep on running - barking happily, oblivious to the danger of the road ahead. I could feel my heart pounding, I was pleading with him to stop, come, stay- anything!
Somehow, I got him home - but not before a women in a very large Ford pickup pulled in front of my house and said "Is that your little white dog? He ran out right in front of me and I almost hit him." We enrolled in obedience class a week later.
Obedience. Sometimes its for our own good.
I wonder how God feels about some of my behaviours - when I go racing down the metaphorical street, oblivious to the dangers lying ahead. Is he chasing after me, heart pounding, calling my name, hoping I'll stop, come, stay!
Sometimes being obedient to God is a real drag. It means going against my self-gratifying nature in favour of doing what God wants. It might mean spending my precious time or money doing work that God values instead of on hobbies or things that I want. And even if I get the actions right, I'm pretty sure its not just "going through the motions" obedience that God is after. I think its obedience of the heart. There have been plenty of times in my life when I physically show up for something, but my heart is feeling resentful the whole time - like I wish I didn't have to be here doing this - gripe and grumble! Time for an attitude adjustment - that is what I mean by obedience of the heart.
Yes, being obedient is tough work. For doggies and for humans.
# posted by KRI @ 2:54 PM 
