A mini-lesson in love & obedience from my dog, Toby Juan Kenobi. **
I say, 'sit'.
He sits.
I say, 'come here'.
He comes.
If I say 'drop it',
he drops it.
If someone else gives him a command, or he sees another dog doing the opposite of what I've asked him, he won't do it. He listens for my (or Bruno's) voice only.
He has never been leashed (except to go to the vet) and we can go on a walk and he never takes off running or strays away from me.
He doesn't ask why he has to sit.
He doesn't ask what will happen if he comes here.
He doesn't hesitate to drop something (even if it's a yummy piece of human food he's chewing on) when I say 'drop it'.
He doesn't run off because he wants to be with us.
And the real shocker - he has never been to obedience training or puppy school.
He obeys me, not out of fear, and not out of training - but out of love & trust. Because we have spent time together, and I have fed him, loved on him, provided a place of comfort for him - he trusts me. When I have had to discipline him, which is rare, he doesn't like it and is quick to change the behavior. But none of this came through training, or through punishments. It has only come because he knows who he belongs to and he loves me.
Why this ode to my dog? Because I need to be more like him.
I know who I belong to, and I love him. But, if I'm being honest - sometimes I still find myself hesitating when Adonai (my master or LORD) says come. I want to go - but my flesh can get the best of me and I start going through the what ifs? What if I go, and then ____________ happens. Which, I tell myself the what ifs are fine, as along as the end result is going. But, when I tell my dog to come here, I expect him to come here now - not to ponder for 30 minutes. So then, why don't I do for the LORD, what I expect of my dog? Seems silly right? Am I alone in this?
Now, if I could just get Toby to quit eating his own dung! Hey, I never said he was perfect. This is the one area he just won't budge in. I don't want to be like him in this area. Literally and figuratively. But, again - if I am real honest with myself - I am sure that the one I belong to feels the same way about me. There's a lot about dung in the bible - but that's another blog.
So, I am chewing on this today. - "And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands" - 1 Kings 8:61 and "To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams." - 1 Samuel 15:22
** Yes, that's his name. His name was just Toby, but my husband insisted that he also have a Hispanic name. No, my husband isn't a machismo, 'viva la raza' type. I am being serious. Have you met him? I can't even picture him like that, haha - I digress. But we do like a good laugh, so he insisted it have a Hispanic name so our dog could be part of our 'peoples'. In kindergarten, Liana came home on the first day saying that she met a friend. I asked what her name was and she said, "It's a boy. Just one". I said, "oh, you only made one friend - that's great. What is his name?" She said, "I already told you one". I said, "right, but what is his name?" She said, "ONE" - and then I realized, she meant Juan. And that is how our dog got his name. Toby Juan Kenobi Lopez. We say it loud, and we say it proud.
