I have two dogs. Winona Sugarloaf and Poppy Lovington. (I know...my wife named them.) They have two, very different personalities. Winona is an Australian Shepherd-Blue Heeler-Border Collie mix, and she has anxiety issues. She's skittish and surly and lurches at anyone who comes within a few feet of us when out on a walk. She puppy guards her food and her chew toys and growls and barks if Poppy gets close. We can't have guests at our house, because she tries to herd them and won't stop barking at them until they are properly seated and behaving themselves. Winona has a guilty conscience and runs to hide even when it's Poppy who did something wrong. She almost never comes when I call her but instead hides under our deck until I bring out the treats. She sleeps downstairs by herself even though we try to encourage her to join her pack in bed.
Poppy is a yellow lab. She's heavy (85 lbs) and doesn't understand the concept of personal space. She is happiest when she is laying on top of us....at 3 a.m. Poppy is always burning calories. She runs outside and then immediately returns, bursting through the dog door with boundless energy. Every time, she comes back to where I'm sitting, sits and looks expectantly up at me. If I ignore her, she puts one paw and then the other in my lap and lifts herself until her head is level with mine. She won't leave unless I look her in the eyes, pet her, and tell her what a good girl she is. Then, she runs back outside only to return a few moments later. I can hardly get any work done between visits.
Poppy is a one-dog disaster. She regularly climbs up on our table and takes whatever she pleases into the back yard, where she chews it beyond recognition. Last night, she snuck up to our bedroom, and I didn't notice until I saw her running through the dog door with one of our pillows. She has gnawed the corners off our coffee table and the arms off our couch and two of our chairs. When I catch her in the act, she knows what she is doing is wrong and looks appropriately guilty. But as soon as I forgive her, she is immediately back in my lap as if nothing has happened. Poppy sleeps with us every night. When we first brought her home from the rescue place, she jumped right up into our bed as if she owned it. All night long, she cuddles up to us as close as she can get, which is usually half on top of us.
I was thinking about how some people are like my dogs in how they relate to God. Some are like Winona. They believe that God is an angry God and that he is always unhappy with them. They keep their heads down spiritually and just try to stay out of His way. Living like this makes them skittish and surly with others. Their lives are characterized by fear, and they don't experience much joy.
Others are like Poppy. They live lives full of joy, because they know the love of their Master. They regularly seek His face and aren't afraid to persistently petition Him for His attention. When they mess up, they confess and receive His forgiveness, and they never doubt its sincerity. People who are like Poppy believe that God is love and that everything He does is loving.
I would rather live life like Poppy. I feel sad that Winona doesn't trust us and that she spends most of her time guarding her possessions. I wish that she would believe us when we tell her how much we love her, and I think that's how God must feel when His children distrust Him. I don't want to live that way with God. I want to live with Poppy-like faith that God is exactly as Jesus showed Him to be. I hope you do, too.
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