Leaning

Rocky leans.

He doesn't just sit beside you or put a paw on your knee; he leans-in, almost pushes the person he is sitting with.  It's an active lean if you like.

The relationship between a dog and his 'master' can at times be a wee bit like our relationship with God.  It's not a perfect analogy I admit (We don't get rewarded for peeing in the garden for example) but there are definitely similarities.

I can learn a lot about my relationship with God from the way my dog behaves with me.  I get a brief glimpse into what the role of a 'master' is.  Maybe having children is an even more realistic example but I don't have any of those so I'll just have to make do with a dog.

I don't lean-in enough.  I love spending time with God, I truly do.  I love the sound of my Master's voice.  I love to walk with Him and take instruction from Him.  And the times He chooses to give me any sort of treat even though I don't deserve it, I am genuinely thrilled.

I don't, however, lean-in enough.  I don't bound over to Him constantly and press myself against him to feel comfort or love.  Often I don't refuse to leave His side.  I stay close but not that close.  I need to lean-in more.

How do you respond to your master?  You don't have to fight for His attention but do you take advantage of that access to Him?  How different would we be if we didn't just try our best to obey the master but actually sought Him out and stuck beside Him,  if we pressed ourselves against Him for safety, comfort and to convey our love for Him?

Maybe you do this better than me, I hope so.

Some of you refuse to even hear the Masters voice; you listen instead to some other master who doesn't want what's best for you.  If you lean on anyone but God you will find that your weight, your troubles, even your life will not be supported. Whose side are you leaning on?


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Here's a song about leaning. (It's not really to do with the point of the blog or anything, it's just a great song.)