The retractable Leash
Heb 12:1-3 "Do you see what this means - all these
pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us
on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start
running - and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no
parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and
finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he
never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating
finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along
the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the
place of honor, right alongside God."
Today I had a memorable power walk with the Lord. I took our
golden retriever, Salida, with me. She has a collar that can
be either a normal collar or a choke chain, and she also has
a retractable leash. It's quite neat.
What is the purpose of all this? Very simple: to train our
golden retriever to be obedient.
As I headed outside, the retractable leash was unlocked. In
other words Salida had complete freedom to go as far as the
leash would allow. But instead of enjoying this freedom, she
took her leash in her mouth. She shook her head as she
pulled it out. The walk was momentarily postponed. No ground
could be gained like this. Salida soon found her leashed
locked into a short position!
At last we could start on our walk. We were even heading in
the right direction, and we covered a distance of
approximately 50 meters. Then Salida became distracted -- by
a slobbering, barking, muddish looking creature of the dog
species. Salida's whole attention burned from being riveted
onto our destination, to being riveted to this creature!
Trying to get her attention back to our walk was a difficult
task, believe me!
But we finally made it past the distraction, and we were
headed forward at a good pace. I decided to reward her
reluctant obedience and I gave her a stick. She accepted it
proudly and pushed on ahead with it in her mouth. It was
like she had completely forgotten I was there! After a while
she got tired of it and dropped it all together.
At one point I looked at the dog and found her covered with
mosquitoes. She didn't seem to care, so I swatted them for
her. She looked up at me, horrified! I knew she was
wondering what terrible thing she had done to deserve a
swat! After this, I had to watch her closely. She seemed to
have no concept whatsoever of her danger. Without my
swatting our golden retriever would have turned into a black
lab! (Some people do like black retrievers, but that's
another story!)
Once while we were walking, Salida looked up at me. It was
like she was talking to me, and she listened when I talked
back. This was a highlight of our walk, and I was sad that
it only happened once. I longed for more interaction with
her! But instead, she stopped in her tracks and refused to
go on. Obviously she had a different idea of how our walk
should progress than I did! I was patient with her for
several minutes. Then I switched the leash to the choke
chain! She probably wondered why I did this. In fact, she
probably thought I was being mean. After all, I put her on a
short leash, make her go where I want to go, pull her away
from other dogs, and now a choke chain! Why?
Is it any wonder I had broken out into a good sweat by the
time we finally got home?
I see so much of us Christians in my golden retriever. God
strives to develop an intimate relationship with us. His
hearts beats faster when we look at Him and listen to Him,
but the majority of the time we are distracted by other
things. Our "barking creatures" are the activities of city
life, a job, or even the activities of improving our home.
None of these are bad in themselves, unless they keep us
from looking towards our real destination. Just like the
"slobbering, barking, muddish looking creature from the dog
species" are not very attractive to us humans, some of our
activities are far from attractive to our Heavenly Father.
Another distraction can be the ministry God gives us. Just
like Salida running around with her stick in her mouth and
then dropping it when she is tired of it, we may run around
with our "task", proud to have been found worthy, or we may
just feel it is our Christian duty and completely ignore our
divine guide. Is it any wonder so many quit their
ministries?
How easy we complain for the circumstances of our life,
wondering why God would permit such events. God's goal
though is for us to experience complete freedom, just like
my goal with our golden retriever is to eventually be able
to let her walk beside me without a leash at all. However I
can't do so until my dog develops a close relationship with
me and learns how to handle her freedom with my help.
Often we don't notice the real dangers that attach
themselves in our lives. Just like mosquitoes that didn't
seem to bother Salida, little sins don't seem to bother us
and before we know it, these little sins are taking over our
lives. The apostle Paul encourages us to have "No extra
spiritual fat, no parasitic sins." Can you imagine a golden
retriever covered by mosquitoes? Can you imagine a spiritual
fat Christian covered with wormish sins (many parasites are
worms!)? No wonder God swats at those. Why are we looking
surprised when He does so?
Well, I am looking forward to be able to go for my walks
with my dog without any leash at all! God is looking forward
for the same thing with us. At what setting is your leash?
Is it at retractable? Or maybe at fixed? Or worse at choke
chain? Remember you can be completely free. The choice is
yours. God is hungrily looking forward to have a close
relationship with you!
John 8:36-37 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free
indeed." NIV
Rob Chaffart