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I have a new grandpuppy, a charming Golden Retriever boy named Charlie. He is as smart as a whip. My kids had had him for 4.5 weeks at the time this was written, and other than accidents involving a parasitic infection, he hadn't had an accident in the house in 4 weeks. In fact, it seemed that "training" Charlie involves only one thing: Teaching him what is expected of him. That is because he is, by nature, a dog whose greatest desire is to please his master!
I was thinking about this the other day, and I began to ask myself whether or not I was like Charlie: Is my greatest desire to please my Master?
I'm afraid that the answer, in all honesty, is "no"... My greatest desire is to please big ol' number 1: Myself!
As I watch my grandpuppy, I see that the rules his human "mommy and daddy" are making him adhere to are actually for two purposes: 1) to ensure that he is safe; and 2) to ensure that he doesn't cause harm to anyone else.
Aren't these the two reasons God asks us to adhere to His rules? And when you look at it like that, we all truly do wish to stay safe, right? And we truly do wish to do anything in our power to not cause harm to someone else! So why, then, can't we be a bit more like Charlie and a bit less like ... me???
Desire to please, however, isn't all there is to the game, is it? The fact that Charlie wants to please his human "mom and dad" doesn't mean that he never does anything wrong. On the contrary! He can, indeed, be quite the handful at times. The problem is that there is a learning process that has to happen in his doggy mind. He wasn't born knowing all the rules, and he has to learn them. In order to do this, he has to learn how to communicate with his human "mom and dad" well enough to know what those rules are. And since comprehension of English is also not something he was born being able to do, and since communication skills in dogs in general aren't nearly as highly sophisticated as they are in humans, herein lies Charlie's problem!
Hum. I know that there are times in my life when I truly do want to please my Master. More than anything else! But how do I go about doing that? I wasn't born with a nature that desires to have anything to do with God! Nor was I born with any innate abilities to be able to communicate with God, and my communication abilities, as sophisticated as they are, lie far below that of my God. How, then, can I learn what those rules are so that I can follow them?
Here again, I look to how Charlie is learning to communicate with his "parents". He tries things, and then his "parents" give him feedback. They are happy with him and praise him and pet him and give him treats when he does something good, and they scold him and put him in timeout when he does something bad. By learning the difference in the things that lead to treats and to timeouts, he has begun to put together a list in his doggy mind of what is -- and isn't! -- acceptable behaviour.
Herein, we are at a much greater advantage than poor Charlie. God doesn't just have us randomly try things and then watch to see if we are praised or punished. Rather, He has given us guidelines for living in His Book, The Bible. God speaks to us through the Bible. He asks us to read it and to obey what lies therein. He also speaks to us in other ways, however, and those, perhaps, take a bit more practice to understand. Nonetheless, we have some guidelines that make learning to hear and understand God's voice much easier, for God will never go against His word. He is also very patient in teaching us to communicate with Him. In fact, our only responsibility is to be a diligent student! We need to spend time allowing Him to teach us to communicate with Him!
Lord, give me the "Master-pleasing" nature that is shown to me by my grandpuppy. May my greatest desire be to sit at Your feet and to learn what You would have me to do! May I spend time in Your presence, may I read and love Your Word, and may I be a diligent, willing student in learning to communicate with You! Oh, and thanks, Lord, for my little Charlie, who is teaching me such valuable lessons!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Moderator, Associate Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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