my D-o-g teaches me about G-o-d

Timber teaches me a lot about our relationship with Jesus. I’m Timber’s master; God is our Master. He doesn’t look at me like some despised low-life; He loves me even though I am incapable of reciprocating the kind of amazing love He has for me. He works to teach me how to follow him as I should. When He tells me something and I stare blankly at Him or still trying to do my own thing, He is patient with me. When I give Timber a command that he hasn’t learned yet, and he doesn’t do it, I think to myself, “He doesn’t know that one yet. I can’t be pissed at him for what I haven’t helped him to learn.”

Then God helps us learn, even through conditioning. We reap what we sow. When we are selfish and do our own thing, the result is painful. Sometimes when Timber is trying to run off when we are walking, I have to pull his leash and choke him  a bit so he associates pain with not listening to me. I do it because I love him, not because I’m punishing him. The more often and longer distances we walk together, he gets more used to my stride and walks at my pace. The more time we spend with God and get to know Him, the same is true. Everytime I pull Timber’s leash, he looks back at me. I realize pain is often what God uses to get our focus back on Him. Pain opens our ears to hear God’s voice.

I know he’s just a dog, but I love how he loves me. I have a lot to learn about how I should love my Master. Everytime I come home, Timber is so excited to see me. Every single time! It’s never like “Oh cool, you’re home.” But he is ecstatic! I’m his favorite person! Man, how I enter God’s presence sometimes is just crap considering how awesome He is! Wherever I go in the house, Timber follows me from room to room. He just wants to be wherever I am. When I look at him or call his name, his tail immediately starts thumping! He loves to be close to me.

I can also tell when Timber just wants something from me. When he’s hungry or wants to go outside, the way he follows me around is different. I get annoyed by it actually, because he’s not paying attention to me out of love, but out of wanting his way right away! God can tell when we do this to Him. I bet it annoys Him too. But we don’t just get rid of Timber for doing that, and God doesn’t get rid of us either. He is an awesome Master that meets our needs and even our wants. I was planning on feeding Timber and taking him outside anyway, because I already knew his needs ahead of time! We don’t need to beg God. We should focus on just following him around out of love for Him, not using Him to get what we want.

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