"Remain in me, and I will
remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the
branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5 NIV)
Have you ever noticed that the more we insist on being
in control of our lives, the less fruit is forthcoming?
My dog, Salida noticed that too. She likes to have her
own way as well. Take, for example, the times she decides she wants to go
outside. She will sit right next to me and breathe her noxious dragon breath
right in my face. If I try to ignore her I will pass out, and I might even die!
She always gets her way immediately. She is in control.
Getting back inside is a harder endeavour for her. Or
at least it used to be. No matter how hard she scratched at our door, we often
didn't hear her, and so she could remain in front of the closed door for much
longer than anticipated. No fruit was forthcoming, no matter what she tried.
Until a Ragdoll cat was introduced into the family,
that is! The cat, Roxy, immediately took a liking to the dog. I cannot say her
feelings were reciprocated, however our dog also did not reject the cat
completely. Rather she compromised and allowed Roxy to be her one-way friend.
Their relationship is beneficial, believe me. As long
as they are getting along, Salida gets her way through the door in both
directions!
How so? Here's the new deal: Dragon breath to get
outside, and a nonstop meowing ragdoll cat to get back in.
Hey! It works! As soon as the dog comes back to the
door, Roxy will start getting our attention by meowing incessantly until we open
the door. We truly have no choice but to obey immediately. Otherwise we would
end up in an institution!
As long as Salida depends on Roxy, it works! The fruit
of her desire is forthcoming!
I believe we could learn a lesson or two from our own
animals.
If fruit is not forthcoming, could it be time to let
go of control in our lives, and allow God to be the Guide? After all, we DID
accept Him as Lord AND Saviour, didn't we?
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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