Just Like the Dog

Today, Jon called me and asked me to hurry and come help him because his dog, Sable had slipped out of her collar and had run off.  Jon lives on a busy road and he is blind.  I rushed to his house and as soon as I was pulling into the driveway, I saw Sable a block down the street, very close to the busy road.  I called her and she ignored me.  I threw the car into park and grabbed the collar and leash from Jon.  As I called her name, Sable ran away from me.  This time she ran right into the road, and thankfully, the cars missed her.  She took off through some yards and each time I got closer, she ran some more.  Finally, many blocks and roads away, she let me grab her and put her collar and leash on.  When we got to the house, I yelled at her and told her she was a bad girl and needed to go to her bed and lay down.

Instead, she kept coming to me, expecting me to love on her.  I told her she was a bad girl and to go lay down.  She stuck her nose into my face and her look said, “tell me that you love me!”  But I was angry at her and didn’t want to forgive her for scaring me so much.  Those sweet, adoring eyes got to me, and I gave in.  After about a half hour of her licking and kissing me (and bugging me non-stop while I was trying to watch a movie), she finally went off, satisfied that I did still love her.

But then I heard her getting into something.  When I ran to the bedroom, she had found a box of chocolate covered raisins that Jon had since CHRISTMAS!  I don’t know how many she ate – but both chocolate and raisins are toxic for dogs.  I pray she will be fine through the night.

This started me thinking about how much I am just like Sable.  I go and do the exact thing I know I shouldn’t and then want God to show me that He still loves me.  And He does, yet often within minutes, I go and do something else that is toxic to my well-being.  As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  And 7:19 – “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”  Yep!  Just like the dog – she knows she shouldn’t run away and into the street.  She shouldn’t eat foods that are toxic and will kill her, but she does it anyway. 

As soon as things are back to normal, we want to know – am I still loved?  Did I stray too far this time?  I don’t know why we do those things we know we shouldn’t.  but I do know that we have a loving Father who will, with wide-open arms, receive us back each and every time!

Artios

Today, I was thinking back about raising my son for five years without his father.  I wondered how in the world I ever managed to accomplish things – like get him through Driver’s Ed, girlfriends, and college visits.  When I think about doing these things, it feels overwhelming to me, even though I already actually did them.  I then realized that I was not really on my own.

 The word “artios” came to mind.  This Greek word is really only used one time in the entire New Testament.  It is translated “perfect” in 2 Timothy 3:17 and it is used to describe the purpose of the verse preceding – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction (which is) instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16.

Then verse 17 says: “That the man of God may be perfect (artios), throughly equipped (Exartizo) unto all good works.”

This word artios is used to describe a ship that is ready to set sail – everything is ready and on-board for the voyage.  The other way the word artios is used is in describing the perfect fit of the ball and socket joint in the hip.  If there is the slightest misalignment in that joint the person suffers the most excruciating pain.  The fit has to be absolutely perfect for the hip to work properly.  This is the word “artios” (Wierwille, 1971, p. 90).

The word “throughly” is not the word thoroughly (which auto-correct keeps making me retype!).  Throughly is an inside job where thoroughly is an outside job.  For instance – one could wash their hands thoroughly, but one cannot wash hands throughly -- meaning both outside and inside (Wierwille, 1971, p. 91)

So the purpose of scripture is to make us perfect and throughly equipped  for good works.  Like the ship that is completely through and throughly furnished for a long voyage, putting the scripture into our hearts and minds prepares us for what life throws at us -- like a husband dying and leaving a teenaged son to raise alone.  I know that I wasn’t able on my own to get through all these things and many others since.  As I make a decision every day to put God’s Word first in my heart and mind and to stay connected and abiding in the true Vine of Christ, I realize that I have gotten through those things that  now seem overwhelming and nearly impossible to even think about.  Artios.  Perfect.  Exartizo – equipped!

Wierwille, V.P. (1971).  Power for abundant living.  New Knoxville, Ohio:  American

Christian Press.

Hold Onto The Rock

Today during my morning jaunt, the wind was blowing from the Northwest.  I was watching a leaf being tossed about, sort of headed South, but not able to really move in any one particular direction. It was just going every which way. With a bigger gust, it slammed against a rock and just stayed there.  I realized how very much I am like that leaf – pushed and shoved by the winds around me.  They come from every direction, and like that leaf, I can spin in circles trying to make my way.  But when I hold onto the rock – the Rock of Christ, I can stick there and can just be present.  Today, my prayer is to be slammed into The Rock and hold on while the winds of this world gust and thrash about me.  I will remain centered on the Rock and not be carried about in a whirlwind frenzy.

Lesson from the Paper Delivery Guy

Lessons from the paper delivery guy.

Last spring, while headed out on my 5:15 AM jog, I noticed a rather beat-up vehicle driving in my neighborhood.  The driver and his passenger were cruising down my street and I suddenly felt a sense of fear.  Did I set my house alarm?  Am I safe in the dark and all alone?  It isn’t normal to see a black man in a beat-up car on my street.  Especially in the wee hours of the morning.

I checked in with God, and I felt a sense of peace, but I truly wondered why this guy was here.  Then I realized he was delivering the morning paper.  I still didn’t like it.  He didn’t “belong” in my neighborhood.  Especially in the dark.

I saw him the next morning, and then the next.  His car was loud and left noxious fumes, making it hard for me to breathe during my jog.  But I began to see his dedication to his task of delivering the paper.  No one else in my neighborhood is up at 5:15. 

I began looking for him each morning, expecting to hear his car – or smell it sometime in my 2 mile jaunt.  And he was there.  Every time!

It has now been a year.  This young man and his female companion have been delivering papers faithfully every morning that I have been out on my run.   What I thought was someone to fear turned out to be someone to respect.  Who else gets up before the sun to drive house to house?  What a tiresome job!  That takes dedication.

Now when I see (hear and smell) his car each morning, I am not worried about my safety.  I am instead, grateful for his work ethic and I bless his old jalopy that it will continue to provide him the opportunity to do his job. 

We often talk about appearances not necessarily being what they seem.  A young black man, seated shifted to one side in his beat up, loud and smelly car in a nice neighborhood could spell trouble.  Or it could mean – just dedication to a rather thankless and monotonous job.  I think others could certainly learn from his example.