Studying the dull sky, I let my mind wander as I waited for our dog Max to finish his "outdoor business". Suddenly a quick movement to the right caught my eye. I glanced over to see our new little dog hopping around eagerly. "How in the world did she get out?" I wondered. "The back storm door is closed. I looked at it as I walked away to be sure she couldn't get out!" No sooner had this thought crossed my mind then, "How in the world am I going to get her back in the house?" frantically followed. Indeed, Misty had greeted Max and was already happily exploring the yard next door, taunting him with the fact that she wasn't on a leash and he was.
I called her but she just glanced at me over her shoulder as she sashayed into the yard two houses away. No longer the timid, terrified puppy she had been on her arrival to our home; she now felt confident enough to take on the neighborhood on her own.
I gave poor Max a yank on the leash, stopping him mid-stream. We hurried to the house where I quickly let him in, took the leash off him and set off after the little one. In the flurry I noticed just how Misty had escaped. When I had taken Max out, the storm door had indeed closed behind us but it had not latched tightly. To the quick glance it appeared secure, but there was actually an open space about an inch wide. Little Miss has pushed into it with her nose and then wiggled her body through.
Misty led me on a merry chase for about ten minutes. Back and forth across the street she doged. I ventured into places in my neighbor's yards I had never gone before, trying to catch the little fawn colored fluff ball. Finally, Misty dashed into a neighbor's garage through an open side door. Micah and I stood at the ready just outside the door while our helpful neighbor herded her toward us. We caught her as she tried to dodge past, depriving her of her new-found independence.
Back in the house, as I went about folding the waiting laundry my mind replayed the adventure. I pictured Misty pushing her squished up black nose into the tiny space between the door and the frame, then wiggling through up to her soft fluffy neck, then edging her shoulders through, then her hips and finally zipping her curled tail through before the door caught it. Then...freedom in the great wide open. I told myself and the children that we HAD to check the door and make sure it was latched. Be vigilant! I contemplated putting a sign on the door to remind us.
Then God put a quiet truth in my mind. "That's like how sin gets control." When I cease being vigilant and watchful; when I become careless in guarding against it; sin wiggles in. Just a whisper of it, then a bit more, it stealthily but quickly invades. When I allow a whisper of unthankfulness to nose its way in, it is quickly followed by greed for more than what He has blessed me with. Then envy of what He has in His good wisdom given to others begins to run free. As quickly as my little dog snuck out the back door and ran wild, sin can run wild in my mind and heart.
The only way to make sure the door of my heart is latched tightly against sin is to be latched onto my Savior. By studying His word, basking in His promises, communing with Him through prayer I stay more grounded in Him and protected from the sins that want to run wild in my soul. Of course sin does sneak in (and in all honesty, sometimes I leave the door wide open in invitation). But the more I rely on and enjoy God, the quicker I recognize its presence and confess it. Then the sooner it is that He reins in the sin and restores my peace.
Isn't that just like God, to bring good out of what is not good? He uses escaped dogs to bring to mind truths that will help me live closer to Him. Who knew that puppies could be a tool in sanctification?
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