I wanna be more like my dog

Usually, we put our dog Max in a kennel when we leave the house. He’s a 9-pound, 3-year-old little boy dog, and sometimes feels the need to water things...

We noticed a few months ago that when it came time to kennel Max, we didn’t have to go find him very often. Instead of being burrowed up under a blanket somewhere, he’d be there in the kennel, curled up catlike, looking at us. We hadn’t called him, or put water in the dish, or brought the chew bone; it was a little eerie. Sometimes we were still figuring out “Are we going somewhere or not?” and he’d trot on over there.

Somewhere along the way, by listening to our words, tones and movement patterns, he figured out that this meant it was den time. And he chose anticipatory obedience to our intentions and desires.

Perhaps I should add, he’s been spanked only about a dozen times ever, so it isn’t like we trained him fearfully. I definitely should add that he loves us, loves to snuggle up beside us. And he really isn’t obedience-trained in any way. It’s all voluntary on his part.

I started walking with Jesus about 20 years ago. At first, I listened to other men’s teachings. (Still do.) Then, I started to read the words of the Bible by my self, and with others. (Still do.) Then I started watching what it was that Jesus actually did (and is doing around me today), and the people and situations in which he did those things. I learned that God’s/Jesus’s actions and context teach me more than the words on the paper...and that we can and do worry some Greek word to death and miss the “what he did” message completely.

Max started off without any language as such. He didn’t have a bible we’d written. All he had was the sound of our voices and movements, and the sight of our body language. He learned the language that we didn’t even know we were speaking. And he chose to join with us in our comings and goings, because he loves us.

I want to:

Look more closely for movements of God around me...

Listen to his words, their tone; I want to sense his mood, not mine...

I want to experience his promise that “My sheep know my voice...” (John 10)

...so that I can sense the movement of his Spirit without him ever needing to call me or give me instructions on where to go, what to say. And MOVE in that Spirit, every day, all the time.

In other words, I want to be like Max when I grow up. :)
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