I’m not a parent, so I don’t have all those wonderful examples of how children show us all these wonderful life lessons. I do have a fur baby, though, and she has given me all kinds of examples of living the Christian life lately. Does that sound surprising? It shouldn’t. Scripture speaks about dogs:
Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.
[Pro 26:11 NASB]
After a year of dog ownership, I will attest to the veracity of this proverb. They DO return to their own vomit. And they eat it, too, if they are so inclined… their own, and anybody else’s while they are at it!
This is when I discovered dogs are disgusting.
However, they are cute, lovable, the best companions, and makes my heart a bit lighter every time I come home and she is oh so very excited to see me! Even it has only been 10 minutes…
But, I digress.
Today Miss Zoie the 1 year old Chihuahua gave me a new life lesson. This morning I took her out to do her morning duties, per the norm. She tinkled here, went over there, tinkled some more… and then she kind of disappeared into the tall grass. She was on a leash, so I didn't think much of it until she resurfaced and dive bombed the same spot again. Being in a hurry, I pulled on her leash to reel her in, and she pulled right back, diving once again into the newly discovered spot. My impatience level grew, so I tugged on her leash and forced her to come to me. She did… and was soaked. Wet from the morning dew… and then there was this brown color all over her head. She looked at me very happy, and this awful stench wafted up to my nostrils. Her tail ducked promptly as I threw her out of her new fun pile of… mess… and carried her—as far away from me as possible—up the steps and straight into the bathtub. She didn’t understand why I drenched a hand towel and aggressively attacked her head to wipe the stuff off of her face while I intermittently gagged and spat out phrases such as, “disgusting!” and “Zoie, how could you?!” (as though her play time was somehow an affront against me personally).
I did the triage cleaning, put her in her kennel (without a treat, thank you very much) and went about my morning business. This afternoon I came home and she went into the bathtub for an official bath.
She wasn’t very pleased with this, either.
She is nice and clean now, no sign of any brown . . . but she still has this smell about her. It is, honestly, nauseating and frustrating all at the same time. I have done everything I can think to do to clean this stench off of her, and it remains. She persists in wanting to cuddle up next to me or sleep on my lap, and all I want her to do is go lay down somewhere else! I keep taking pity on her, though, and allow her to lay near me. She doesn’t understand why I keep pushing her away. I will admit, though—the smell is less offensive now than it was initially. I am starting to acclimate to it (although I honestly wish I wasn’t!).
While I watched her curl up in a ball on my balcony sleeping, I started thinking the stench, and how unpleasant it is to be around. It didn’t take me long before my thoughts turned toward sin, and how awful the stench of my sin must be in the nostrils of my God. God is pure and holy, and no sin is allowed into His presence—yet He is long suffering and patient with His children who return to the pig pen and wallow in the mire.
When you are in community with others, you soon realize that you are sitting next to a person who has a spiritual stench about them—something isn’t right, and YOU sense it pretty quickly. Sometimes they need extra help to be able to distinguish the stench, though—they have grown so accustomed to it, they can’t smell it anymore! That’s part of the one another ministry of the body of Christ—to help our brother or sister out of the mess they are in.
The part that struck me today, though—even after you clean up the mess, sometimes the smell remains. The consequences of sin don‘t necessarily go away all at once. Sometimes the smell remains. You can wash the outside (change the behavior), but the smell remains (the heart remains unaffected, in this illustration). Change happens slowly in some people. The smell remains. The stubbornness of heart is in place.
So what do you do with those people? Do you shove them away? Are they too much for you? Is this more than you can handle? Are you afraid their stench will rub off on you if you associate with them? Or do you allow that one to come close and be comforted with the truth and hope of the gospel?
I found myself examining my own heart this afternoon—do I shove away the unlovable? Do I try to avoid the messes others are in? Do I prefer ease and comfort over discomfort and associating with those deemed less than desirable by societal (church) standards?
Yet, on the same hand, do I give people reason to shove me away when I am being unlovable? I need to understand that there are times where my sin has grown a stench, and others are weary of being around me. So what do I do? Start to examine my heart, and change from the inside out. Over time, the stench will go away. Others will be less likely to want to keep distance. But I need to give grace to those who are uncomfortable or weary of coming around me. My change is not their responsibility. Am I making it difficult for another sister in Christ to come to me and walk along side me? If so, I must repent before the Lord and seek His transforming power in my life. Who knows, one day I may need to walk along side that same sister in her mess and reach out a hand to her.
Sometimes the best lessons are learned while covered in mess.
Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.
[Pro 26:11 NASB]
After a year of dog ownership, I will attest to the veracity of this proverb. They DO return to their own vomit. And they eat it, too, if they are so inclined… their own, and anybody else’s while they are at it!
This is when I discovered dogs are disgusting.
However, they are cute, lovable, the best companions, and makes my heart a bit lighter every time I come home and she is oh so very excited to see me! Even it has only been 10 minutes…
But, I digress.
Today Miss Zoie the 1 year old Chihuahua gave me a new life lesson. This morning I took her out to do her morning duties, per the norm. She tinkled here, went over there, tinkled some more… and then she kind of disappeared into the tall grass. She was on a leash, so I didn't think much of it until she resurfaced and dive bombed the same spot again. Being in a hurry, I pulled on her leash to reel her in, and she pulled right back, diving once again into the newly discovered spot. My impatience level grew, so I tugged on her leash and forced her to come to me. She did… and was soaked. Wet from the morning dew… and then there was this brown color all over her head. She looked at me very happy, and this awful stench wafted up to my nostrils. Her tail ducked promptly as I threw her out of her new fun pile of… mess… and carried her—as far away from me as possible—up the steps and straight into the bathtub. She didn’t understand why I drenched a hand towel and aggressively attacked her head to wipe the stuff off of her face while I intermittently gagged and spat out phrases such as, “disgusting!” and “Zoie, how could you?!” (as though her play time was somehow an affront against me personally).
I did the triage cleaning, put her in her kennel (without a treat, thank you very much) and went about my morning business. This afternoon I came home and she went into the bathtub for an official bath.
She wasn’t very pleased with this, either.
She is nice and clean now, no sign of any brown . . . but she still has this smell about her. It is, honestly, nauseating and frustrating all at the same time. I have done everything I can think to do to clean this stench off of her, and it remains. She persists in wanting to cuddle up next to me or sleep on my lap, and all I want her to do is go lay down somewhere else! I keep taking pity on her, though, and allow her to lay near me. She doesn’t understand why I keep pushing her away. I will admit, though—the smell is less offensive now than it was initially. I am starting to acclimate to it (although I honestly wish I wasn’t!).
While I watched her curl up in a ball on my balcony sleeping, I started thinking the stench, and how unpleasant it is to be around. It didn’t take me long before my thoughts turned toward sin, and how awful the stench of my sin must be in the nostrils of my God. God is pure and holy, and no sin is allowed into His presence—yet He is long suffering and patient with His children who return to the pig pen and wallow in the mire.
When you are in community with others, you soon realize that you are sitting next to a person who has a spiritual stench about them—something isn’t right, and YOU sense it pretty quickly. Sometimes they need extra help to be able to distinguish the stench, though—they have grown so accustomed to it, they can’t smell it anymore! That’s part of the one another ministry of the body of Christ—to help our brother or sister out of the mess they are in.
The part that struck me today, though—even after you clean up the mess, sometimes the smell remains. The consequences of sin don‘t necessarily go away all at once. Sometimes the smell remains. You can wash the outside (change the behavior), but the smell remains (the heart remains unaffected, in this illustration). Change happens slowly in some people. The smell remains. The stubbornness of heart is in place.
So what do you do with those people? Do you shove them away? Are they too much for you? Is this more than you can handle? Are you afraid their stench will rub off on you if you associate with them? Or do you allow that one to come close and be comforted with the truth and hope of the gospel?
I found myself examining my own heart this afternoon—do I shove away the unlovable? Do I try to avoid the messes others are in? Do I prefer ease and comfort over discomfort and associating with those deemed less than desirable by societal (church) standards?
Yet, on the same hand, do I give people reason to shove me away when I am being unlovable? I need to understand that there are times where my sin has grown a stench, and others are weary of being around me. So what do I do? Start to examine my heart, and change from the inside out. Over time, the stench will go away. Others will be less likely to want to keep distance. But I need to give grace to those who are uncomfortable or weary of coming around me. My change is not their responsibility. Am I making it difficult for another sister in Christ to come to me and walk along side me? If so, I must repent before the Lord and seek His transforming power in my life. Who knows, one day I may need to walk along side that same sister in her mess and reach out a hand to her.
Sometimes the best lessons are learned while covered in mess.