(Photo by ladybugdiscovery - Flickr)
Connie and I get up early each morning to read the bible and to pray together. Our dog, Shinzy, usually joins us close by. During one of our readings, I was struck by the words, "Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,..." Wow! The God of the universe, the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega is actively extending his grace and peace to me! The thought occurred to me that this truth should foster a response. It should catalyze my day to day living. Then it hit me...
I want to be the man my dog thinks I am.
She thinks I love her. I don't have anything against her - I'm just not crazy about the idea of having a dog. Every time I sit down in the family room...remote in hand...she comes and lays down in front of me. She rolls on her back, legs in the air, so that I will scratch her belly. I always do it. She thinks it's because I love her. Fact is, I just want her to move along. I don't want to sit there and look at her with her legs up in the air. Not to mention...I'd like her to get off my rug!
She thinks I am patient. When she is outside, she lets us know she wants to come back in by scratching the front door. The white primer can then be seen beneath an otherwise black door. Every Saturday...I repaint. She thinks I am patient. She can't hear what I am mumbling under my breath. She can't know that I just can't stand having a front door that looks like a dog lives on the other side of it! It has nothing to do with patience.
She thinks I am so kind because I take her to the pet spa for a haircut, bath, tooth brushing and nail clipping. The fact is, I keep her hair cut short because I detest the shedding...and the business end of a Swiffle Sweeper. I have her bathed because I don't want to do it myself. I clip her nails to help save my hardwood floors. I have her teeth brushed because her breath stinks! It has nothing to do with being kind.
She thinks I am faithful because the first thing I do each morning is open the door and let her out. My motive is altogether different. I don't want to have to clean up the mess that will result if I don't let her out! Not faithful...but rather self-serving.
She thinks I am peaceful. I'm not home much. When I am, I am mostly asleep. Not to mention that every time I lay down on the couch...I just fall asleep. I have never seen the end of any movie rented from Blockbuster. Shinzy thinks I'm a peaceful man when really I just can't stay awake.
She thinks I'm good because I no longer make her wear a shock collar for our underground fence. To be truthful...I lost it. It's not being "good"...it is being absent minded.
She thinks I am so joyful because when I come home each night I walk in the front door and yell, "Yohoo...Honey...I'm home!" Connie will always greet me or calls back to me. We look forward to seeing each other at the end of the day. Shinzy gets in on the act. She comes to me, wags her tail, hops up and down a little...she thinks my excitement is about her.
When I stop to think about it...I would like to be the man my dog thinks I am.
Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
I think I'll go scratch Shinzy's belly...and then take her for a walk.
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