don’t be like a dog that needs a leash

One of my favorite places to spend quality time with God is at the park.  Today as I was sitting at a picnic bench, praying about some of the things on my plate right now, I saw a dog (that did not have a leash) begin walking away from its master towards a busy street.  At first he just trotted along, sniffing and investigating things, marking territory, etc.  His owner was a little older and was not moving very quickly but proceeded to walk after the dog, calling out its name.  The dog kept gaining an increasing amount of distance from its owner and it looked like it would run into the street.  And, sure enough, the dog did enter the street and cars began slowing down trying hard not to hit it.

At this point I stood up, preparing to run down the hill and help the man and retrieve the dog.  Fortunately a man stopped his truck in the middle of the road, picked the dog up, and carried him to the owner.  The owner then put the leash on the dog and proceeded to try and lead him back toward their vehicle.  The dog, however, apparently really did not like having a leash on and used all of its little energy to fight the leash.  He yapped and jumped and tugged and ultimately only achieved injury to itself in fighting the direction the man was walking.  It got a little bit more ridiculous when the dog finally just laid down and refused to move, even though his master was tugging on the leash.  He literally laid there, refusing to move, for several minutes.  The man eventually just picked the dog up and carried it.

Psalm 32:9 came to mind.  “Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”  I am still kind of thinking through what exactly I should take away from this, but there are a couple of clear encouragements have come out of it.

1. It was clear that it was a totally stupid move for the dog to run away from its owner.  (It almost resulted in its death)  The dog still didn’t quite get it and continued to fight.  I wonder how often we do the same with God?  So, I should recognize that God really has my best interest in mind and trust His leadership.

2. In Psalm 32:9, the end goal of the master of the horse in the verse is to keep the animal near Him.  The implication is that this is God’s desire.  For us to be near Him.  (also, Mark 3:14, John 17:24) And there is no greater joy than being there!  (Psalm 16:11)

3. There is a promise that God will lead us.  (see the previous verse – Psalm 32:8)  He says very clearly that He will instruct us in the way we should choose.  There is also the implication that He will use a “leash” if He has to!  I want to stay close enough to Him to let Him lead.

The next question that arises in my mind is how do I let God lead?  Well, I went back to Psalm 32 to read what the rest of it says.  The action that was taken by the Psalmist that led to him being near to God was very clear.

1. He acknowledged his sin to God (as opposed to covering his iniquity) Ps. 32:3,5

2. He received forgiveness for his sins through trusting the Lord and turning toward Him. Ps.32:1-5

The end result?  Being absolutely SURROUNDED by the steadfast love of the Lord.

Psa 32:10-11  Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but STEADFAST LOVE surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!