Stay Away From the Shoes

So anyone who has ever owned a puppy will tell you that they require a lot of things. Food. Attention. Love and care. But most importantly discipline. They have to learn that shoes are made for wearing, not chewing. That the potty is outside, not on the carpet. And that there is one person in control: you the human.

So this past week my sister and I have been dog sitting for family friends, and their dog is a precious 1 year old cockapoo. While cuteness goes a long way, Katie and I have found it very trying to discipline Sammy. Everything to him is a potential chew toy(hands included). He wants to bark at everything and to constantly be showered with attention and affection. However, its not convenient or even good for him to always be under my feet or barking at the faint, nonexistent billows of wind. And the other night he decided that he would do everything he could to possibly misbehave. If I wasn't uttering "Sammy, no!" I was taking him out to the potty or chasing down a stray sock he just happened to find.

When we finally put him up for the night I started to think how much we are like puppies. When we accept God's grace we become the point of his affection. We feel close to him, wrapped in his mercy and love. We promise to read the Bible daily and go to church every Sunday. For lack of a better phrase we're on a Jesus high.

And then we fall.

We learn that there are certain boundaries in which we must abide. There are ways of life that no longer are acceptable. There are old relationships that we must part with. And the closeness we feel to God becomes ruined with our own selfishness. Because, like Sammy, we want the things that we know we aren't suppose to have. We go after the shoes because it's who we are: sinful fools.

But luckily for us, God is the perfect Father. He never loses patience with us. He doesn't blow up in frustration. He lovingly guides us back to him. And while we may see his guidance as punishment, we learn that the next time there will be consequences. God is one step ahead of us. He has sent His Spirit to tell us to stay away from the shoes. They're dangerous. And in a world where Satan is constantly whispering to take them, the Spirit is there to lovingly move us away and back to the Father.

It is in those moments when we return to the Father who created us and knows us intimately that we truly find how deep and how powerful his love is for us. It is worth the harsh discipline he is always teaching us.

So as Sammy sleeps peacefully curled up in the chair next to me, I look at him and forget how bad he was the other night because all I see is the cute puppy asleep in the chair. How fortunate we are to be loved by the Father that he overlooks all our dark and dirty mistakes to see the beautiful child he created!

Love: Pure and Simple.

So this blog has been a long time coming. After many Midtown sermons and scripture readings I finally caved and decided I would put all the thoughts that run wildly through my head in actual coherent words. And what better topic to start with than love. Everyone can relate to it in one way or another. To some its instinctual. To others its a learned concept. But in either case its something we probably fail at miserably.

I was listening to the song "How He Loves" the other day and instead of absentmindedly singing along I stopped to think about what it actually says. I love the line that says something like "heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss/ and my heart turns violently inside of my chest." Its such a beautiful picture of the perfect way to love. Wrecklessly. Passionately. Whole-heartedly. We serve a god who loves us in the most passionate and compassionate way there is. He seeks us until he finds us. He remains when we turn our backs on him. He forgives and more importantly forgets. And inspite of all of these amazing things, I find my self continuously not loving him. I get so caught up in my sinfulness that I forget to stop. Be still. And be thankful for how he loves me.

This blog is not perfect. In fact its quite far from that. But its sole purpose is to make Him known. To reveal the unspoken truth that there is somone out there who is the perfect Lover. He is jealous and compassionate and unfailing. And he offers you the simplest and purest gift in his son Jesus.

My challenge to myself (and I extend this to you) is to spend time tomorrow just loving god. Wrecklessly. Passionately. And Unashamed.