Here Puppy! Come Home Boy!

Our dog Hank is a lucky dog. His best friend Z, a three-year-old adorable Shorkie girl, lives right next door. Our yards share a fence and the two dogs spend many hours there each week visiting, occasionally working on one of the 10 or so pairs of holes they are attempting to dig under the fence so that they can have 24/7 access to one another. Our human neighbors are as delightful as their dog and we indulgent pet owners have agreed to let the two dogs keep at their efforts. It wouldn't be so bad if they had a little doggy "door" into one another's yards.

Several times a week, we put Hank in Z's yard. We literally pick him up and drop him on the other side of the fence. His legs begin running before he even hits the ground and Z is on-the-ready to chase after him. They will play chase and tug-of-war until they are exhausted and then they'll laze in the yard together until it's time for Hank to come home.

When we go to get Hank, he is always ready to come home. Until quite recently, he would race toward us and begin leaping from Z's side of the fence until we caught him in mid-air and assisted his jump back over into our yard. Gradually, it began to occur to us, and eventually to Hank, that he was jumping high enough to clear the fence without our assistance. (Because Z's yard is about three inches higher than ours, he can jump from her yard to ours but not vice-versa.) So now, all we have to do is call his name and Hank leaps over the fence to come home. Even though it is clear, by his excessive enthusiasm, that he has been longing to come home, he never has made that reuniting leap until we've called him.

I wonder how often I have behaved like Hank, happy to run off in my own direction until I've exhausted myself and then laze around unsure about how to get back where I belong. It is only by spending time with God that I will be able to hear His call so that I can come home. The more time I spend with Him, the sooner I will hear Him.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
II Timothy 3:16-17