Lessons from our dog...

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Joshua 22:5

Daisy the dog is ahead of Howard just before she gets stuck in a deep snow drift!

Yesterday Howard and I put on our snowshoes and went for a walk in our back yard.  We have about 2.5 acres in the back of our house.  Our dog Daisy was eager to accompany us.  At first we followed a nice clear cut path that Howard had cleared with the snowblower.  But then we blazed our own trail through the wooded area.  Daisy was enjoying herself and decided to jump ahead of us and  explore on her own.  She soon discovered that her short body would not be able to move ahead since she was buried in deep snow drifts.  She would try to hop like a rabbit out of that hole, only to find another one.  Not long after that, she decided that maybe she should just follow the path that Howard and I were making with our snowshoes.  She learned to walk in step with us and found out how much easier and better it was.

That made me think about our relationship with God.  So often we are like our little dog Daisy when it comes to following God.  We think we know what trail we want to take.  We may run ahead or take a side trail that looks good, only to find out that it can lead us into dangerous places and away from God.  God tells us in Joshua to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.  We need to keep in step with God, not run ahead or follow our own paths.

O God you are my God and I will always praise you. 

I will seek you in the morning and I will learn to walk in your ways.

And step by step You lead me, and I will follow you all of my days.