“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

(To access the entire “The Word Became Flesh” devotional series, please click here.)
(To access the entire “Only in Jesus” devotional series, please click here.)