The Giver of All Good Things

It is funny the way that the Spirit will just tap you on the shoulder sometimes and point out a lesson that is right in front of your face.  It happened again on my walk this morning.  It involved the dog again.  I have been training her to respond to my command to "come" by rewarding her with a tasty treat when she does so.  This has been working wonders.  She has started to realize that when she obeys there is a really positive payoff.  She is starting to identify me as the giver of treats, and to come when I call.  I reward her for staying close to me with words and pats and with the occasional surprise from a pocket full of canine culinary delights.

I watched her this morning as she wandered father and farther away across a field.  Her nose was glued to the ground.  I called her.  She popped her head up and looked at me.  I called her again.  It was as if I could see the debate in her little doggy head.  Then, she took off like a rocket toward me.  She was about halfway towards me when she suddenly changed directions.  She shot off on a new trajectory.  Soon, she had her nose down in a pile of cow manure and was munching away.  I called her again, but she wasn't budging.  Again, and she popped her head up and looked at me inquisitively, as if surprised that I was still there.  Then, she bolted straight towards me.  She received her tasty treat when she arrived, albiet more carefully than usual as I didn't want a hand smeared with cow manure from her muzzle.

I was laughing about this scene when I felt a gentle poke.  I am just like the brute beast.  I know that God is the giver of all good things.  His pockets are bulging with things that delight me.  When I draw near to Him, He is quick with a word of affirmation and is so kind to me.  I love to be close to Him.  But then I catch of whiff of something.  I forget that He is there.  I wander off in curiosity.  I wonder about what this new smell might hold in store.  He lets me meander and perhaps a smile drifts across His face at my inquisitiveness or my enjoyment of the field where He has led me.

Then He calls me.  I become aware of Him again.  I remember what it is like to be near Him and I am off like a rocket towards Him.  Then, I catch a whiff of something else, and my pace towards him slakens, my concentration on Him is broken.  Quicker than I know it, I am off in a different direction, forgetting the gifts that He is holding for me.  He patiently, and sometimes urgently, calls me again.  Oh yeah, that's where I was going!  As I refocus on His face, I can hardly remember how I forgot, or how I failed to reach Him, and I am off again in pursuit of the One who loves me, the giver of all good things.